Stuart Kettlewell hails Motherwell’s reaction after stunning late comeback

Stuart Kettlewell admitted he was proud of his Motherwell players after they completed a dramatic comeback to beat Dundee 3-2 in a cinch Premiership thriller.

The hosts established a two-goal lead thanks to Jordan McGhee and Luke McCowan, who netted straight from a corner over the head of Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly.

However, the Steelmen stormed back with strikes from Georgie Gent and Theo Bair before debutant Moses Ebiye scored a last-gasp winner in stoppage time.

Kettlewell was delighted with the reaction from his players to secure the stunning victory which kept alive Motherwell’s hopes of finishing in the top six.

He said: “The first goal we conceded was really disappointing. It was second phase and comes across from the right.

“The second half, it looked a long way back for us to try and get points on the board, being 2-0 down.

“Liam Kelly held his hands up and was the first one to do so when he came into the dressing room. We should not be conceding direct from a corner. We have to be better in those moments.

“But what a reaction from the team. I thought we were the better team by far in the second half. We created a lot of chances and we could have scored a lot more goals.

“We probably forced Dundee to change their shape with the way we were playing.

“It was a really nice moment for Moses Ebiye. It has been a long journey to get him on to the pitch. To give us that finish and see the jubilation amongst the Motherwell supporters was a real stand-out moment.

“We walk out the front door proud of our comeback. What it does is take everything to Saturday and all the different outcomes that could come in the fixture list.”

Despite the defeat, Dundee still have their top six destiny in their own hands with a game in midweek against Rangers before travelling to face Aberdeen on Saturday.

However, Dark Blues boss Tony Docherty knows his side have to defend a lot better than they did against the Steelmen.

The 53-year-old admitted: “That is something we’ll address as a group. We’ll analyse that.

“We have to realise we still have a big opportunity here this week.

“We reset. All season the team has shown real resilience and I am looking for that again.

“We should have seen that game out, even at 2-1. But that’s history now – we have to look ahead at the final two matches to make sure it is positive going forward.”