Stuart Kettlewell wants Motherwell to ‘respond positively’ to Scottish Cup exit

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell told his players to suck up the criticism and respond in the right manner after incurring the wrath of a section of fans following their limp Scottish Cup exit.

The Steelmen only managed one shot on target as they fell to a 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone in Perth.

Although they pushed Saints back for much of the second half, they could not create a clear-cut opportunity and many of the 2,000 travelling fans made their displeasure known.

Kettlewell was without the spine of his team with Aston Oxborough, Liam Gordon, Lennon Miller and Apostolos Stamatelpolous among nine injured players.

Motherwell struggled to find rhythm to their possession with Paul McGinn, often the link between defence and midfield, back on the long-term absentee list and their midfield creativity severely hampered by injuries.

Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson, Ross Callachan and Harry Paton have only started 10 games between them this season and key pair Miller and Slattery have not featured in the same team since November 2023.

The first two midfielders on that list are beginning to get up to speed after long-term absences and Kettlewell’s hope will be that they can start to influence possession as Motherwell bid to put on a better display in the league at Perth next Saturday.

“I’ve said to the players that what you’ve done before, where you sit in the league, it doesn’t matter, it comes down to today,” Kettlewell said.

“Making excuses about us having nine players out, that you would make a case for them all maybe playing in our team, none of that matters, it’s just excuses.

“How supporters react is going to be down to the score, sometimes the performance and then that’s ultimately how it goes as a football player.

“You either suck that up and you realise that that’s what it is and you react positively to it or you disappear and you go into your shell and that’s not going to work out well for anybody.

“We speak about being 16 points clear of St Johnstone. It didn’t look like that on the face of the performance but you try to remind the players that there’s a reason why you find yourself in the top half of the table.”

It was a first victory in 10 matches for Saints, who benefited from several new signings, although on-loan Swansea goalkeeper Andy Fisher was not tested on his home debut.

Panama midfielder Victor Griffith had a hand in Makenzie Kirk’s goal and added authority to the midfield, while Sam Curtis provided plenty of pace and energy on the right flank after joining on loan from Sheffield United.

Manager Simo Valakari said: “Andy brings this calmness in our back-line and he makes very, very good saves.

“Sam, I love this guy. I love his character. He wants to play football, he wants to win for the team, his eyes are sparkling and he’s ready to go with everyone to football war.

“Victor is a very intelligent player. He was in the right positions, he has this intensity to go to win the duels and I believe he will gel even more with our team.

“But it was not all about these new players. It has been how hard these players who have been here, how hard they have been working. And I’m happy that these new players bring the new energy, that they can help the players who have been here.”