Off the mark, now it’s time for James to kick on

A really important win. Motherwell make it really tough for you and we stood up to it.

James Wilson’s finish was outstanding – the finish of a natural striker.

It’s a great feeling when you see a striker in that position. He’s been struggling with injury and we’ve been wanting to get him in the side. He just needs game time to get up to speed.

We’ve not scored too many open play goals but when you see him in that position, you’re confident he’s going to score. He’s a confident boy and a good player but it’s more getting him on the pitch. It’s been a frustrating time for him – it’s been niggling injury after niggling injury.

It was important we got 60 minutes into him but we’ve got an important game on Tuesday. It’s important playing in front of the home fans to get off to a good start and he certainly did that.

It’s well documented Motherwell have that physical identity. We had to stand up to that and made sure we were resolute.

The defenders and Joe Lewis deserve credit for keeping a clean sheet. We matched that side of it and with a bit of quality at the other end, came out deserved winners.

Joe has not had a lot to do but when he’s called upon, can produce great saves. His concentration levels are such that he’s there when called upon. We’ve got a big week coming up so that’s the first one ticked off. All the focus is on Tuesday now.

Motherwell ask questions and if your centre-halves are not winning headers, it makes it difficult but Mikey Devlin and Scott McKenna were dominant.