Stoppage time pain in Perth for the Steelmen
ST JOHNSTONE.....................................2 MOTHERWELL.......................................1
Andy McGilvray
Motherwell boss Graham Alexander says Callum H e n d r y ’s s t o p p a g e t i m e winner for St Johnstone was a ‘wonder-strike’ – but it came out of nowhere when his side were pushing for the victory.
It was a big blow to the Steelmen’s top-six hopes, but Alexander says that chance is still in their own hands despite the 2-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park, where Hendry’s double cancelled out Kevin van Veen’s early opener.
The defeat leaves Motherwell eighth in the table, although just three points off of fourth place.
With several clubs unable to secure fourth place, Alexander says Motherwell have to look to pre-split games against St Mirren and Livingston as a chance to grab it and end up in the top six.
He said: “[It was a sore one] for everyone connected with our club. I thought it was a game where there only looked like one winner.
“We were really pushing for that winning goal, we hit the post and the keeper has made a good save.
“And they have scored from nothing really. It was a wonder strike, but there’s things we could do to not let him have that opportunity.
“It’s a sore one because even if it had finished 1-1 we would have been disappointed because I felt it was a game we could have won.
“You couldn’t say St Johnstone were on top. We have lost a game where I felt we were in relative control. Certainly after taking the lead we should have gone into half-time with that lead.”
On his side still having a chance to finish in the top six, Alexander added: “Amazingly so. That’s what we have to focus on. I know everyone in our club is hurting at the minute, we are all frustrated and angry, but the opportunity is right there in front of us.
“No-one seems to want to take it at the moment, it keeps getting thrown around at clubs.
“We have had so many opportunities but it’s still there for us. If we go into the next two games with a positive attitude to go and grab it, then we could be looking at this as a tough time that we came through and eventually achieved our ambitions.”
The Steelmen have a couple of weeks to stew over the result ahead of former ‘Well boss Stephen Robinson making his Fir Park return with his St Mirren side on April 2.