Robinson hails resilience of players as 10-man Motherwell end losing run

Posted Sunday, October 07, 2018 by PA

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson praised his side’s character after they earned a 1-1 draw against Livingston with 10 men in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The Lanarkshire side had held the lead for the majority of a feisty encounter after an early Ryan Bowman strike, but an emphatic Keaghan Jacobs free-kick drew the visitors level in the 64th minute.

Motherwell then lost Carl McHugh with 12 minutes remaining after he picked up the second of two bookings in the space of eight minutes, but the hosts managed to hold on for a share of the points.

The result means that the Lions are now unbeaten in seven league matches, while Well have not won in their last five in all competitions.

But despite that, Robinson was keen to take the positives.

“It was a tough game,” the Northern Irishman admitted. “The biggest thing for me was the resilience we showed not to lose the match.

“We’ve lost our last four games and you can see the nervousness in the team and around the ground.

“We’ve stopped the rot and it now gives us a couple of weeks to get back into it and ready for the St Johnstone game.

“I thought the players stood up and showed real resilience today. Livingston scored with their only shot on target which was an absolute wonder strike. Sometimes you’ve got to credit that and move on.”

Jacobs’ effort was easy to credit, his breathtaking free-kick curling and dipping into the top right-hand corner of Trevor Carson’s goal.

It saw the midfielder on the scoresheet for the first time since May – when he netted the goal at Firhill that gave Livi their current top-flight status.

Since then the Lions have played eight league matches and lost just one, which was away to champions Celtic on the opening day of the season.

Such has been their run that this was only the second time in six matches that new manager Gary Holt has not tasted success.

“It wasn’t the best or the prettiest game but it was robust and energetic,” the Livi boss said.

“What you saw out there was two teams fighting and scrapping.

“You’re not gonna come here and be allowed to play and dictate the game. We just asked the players to be braver on the ball at half-time and I think we did that. The goal is a one in a hundred strike.

“Looking at it, we could maybe have nicked it at the end. We had the better chances in the game and I think we limited Motherwell to very little. On chances created, we probably shaded it.”