Managers Post Motherwell

03/03/12: JM - "The one thing you could say that when we got into good areas, we lost that little bit of composure. We had to work the goalkeeper more when we got into the final third.

Jim McIntyre gave his thoughts after losing 2-0 to Motherwell:-

"I thought we started the game really well, the boys were excellent and I was really pleased to the reaction to the St Johnstone performance. Motherwell have a lot of pace in their team, they have very good players and are well organised. We took the game to Motherwell and had a succession of corners. That tells you that we were on the front foot for a lot of the game against a very good side - we were more than a match but the first goal changes everything."

It looked like Chris Smith had the ball covered at his near post but unfortunately Michael Higdon's saw the ball squeeze in at the near post. Macca described it as a "bread and butter save":-

"It was a hammer blow to us and it is another mistake that really gave Motherwell a huge lift. The big man knows that he has got to save it but he has not. It was their opening goal and then there was a six minute spell when they scored a second goal with poor defending from our point of view - in the wider area first and foremost but to let Ojamaa in. We defended a corner and the ball has come back out and Ojamaa has drifted into an area where he should be picked up.

"That was really disappointing and I think those were the only times where we gave Motherwell any space. We defended really well up to that point."

So did that reveal the Pars weak points yet again?

"It is in terms of the ruthlessness to put the ball away and also to keep the ball out at the other end. The mistake changes the face of the game."

The Manager fully expects his goalkeeper to bounce back and although he doesn't understand how keeper's choose the vocation given making mistakes that cost goals are an occupational hazard:-

"He has done it before, he bounced back in the First Division and he bounced back with a great performance at Parkhead and at St Johnstone last week. I don't know why anybody would want to be a goalie to be honest. You don't get a lot of plaudits, it seems be always the mistakes that are talked about."

Martin Hardie tested the Motherwell keeper early on but maybe the keeper was not taxed nearly enough:-

"The one thing you could say that when we got into good areas, we lost that little bit of composure. We had to work the goalkeeper more when we got into the final third."

The Manager was pleased with the way his players have handled the week given the financial difficulties that emerged:-

"Everything was fully explained to the boys on Thursday morning, they were told that it was a short term problem that would be addressed in the coming days. They were re-assured by our Chief Exec Bill Hodgins. You could see by the way they started the game today that they were totally focussed on playing football."

The draw at Easter Road put Hibs four points ahead but it is not as great as it could have been:-

"It is what it is, we have to worry about our own results."

Motherwell manager, Stuart McCall commented::-

"I am delighted with the three points, after a poor first half display. I thought first and foremost that Dunfermline worked a lot harder than we did in the first half and I told the front four we needed more from them in the second half.

"The first goal is always crucial and we managed to get it, we looked dangerous in the second half and the players who didn't show in the first half like Henrik (Ojamaa) and Higgy (Michael Higdon) performed much better in the second half.

"Chris Humphrey also gave us a spark, I took Omar Daley off as he just had one of these days that wingers sometimes have."