Graham Alexander admitted referee Nick Walsh called both big decisions that went against his team correctly in the 2-1 defeat to Celtic
In the first half, Christopher Long was fouled by Kristoffer Ajer within millimetres of the box but while some replays indicated the contact was inside, Walsh correctly awarded a free-kick rather than a penalty.
Then in almost the final action of the game, Diego Laxalt cleared Harry Smith’s goalbound header off the line and although it was inconclusive on first sight the Motherwell boss admitted the ball didn't cross the line.
Alexander said: “You’re hoping that they go for you but I’ve seen them after the game and the officials got them spot on.
"Credit where credit is due because that’s what it is. It shows you that we were very close to doing something very good today.
“We didn’t get the result but our performance was good and we need to take that into the coming games.”
Despite suffering nightmare starts to both halves - Stephen Walsh headed Celtic ahead after just one minute and Odsonne Edouard doubled their advantage six minutes into the second half - Motherwell showed great character to mount late pressure.
Allan Campbell pulled a goal back for the Steelemen on 66 minutes and they pressed valiantly for an equaliser in the closing stages.
Since taking over from Stephen Robinson, Alexander has overseen an upturn in performances and the former Scotland international insists he’s attempting to change the mentality of his players.
He told the Motherwell website: “We don’t just want to go back to what the history books tell us. We don’t want to look at the past and say this is what’s going to happen in the future.
"We want to change that if we can as much as possible. The first place we can do that is in people’s minds.
“We are trying to give our players confidence because every game of football is an opportunity to win points.
“It’s eleven v eleven and if you do your jobs as diligently as we did today then you give yourself the best chance of getting a result.
“We didn’t get the result but our performance was good and we need to take that into the coming games.”
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