Robbie Crawford was delighted to finally beat Hamilton Accies and secure Motherwell's Premiership safety - but insists they must be battling up the top end of the table next season.
The Steelmen claimed their first win over Accies since August 2019 with a 1-0 victory last night, ending a run of five games without a win and stopping their rivals from wrapping up a clean sweep in the fixture this season.
Crawford's side are now guaranteed to avoid a relegation play-off with three games to spare, but for a side who qualified for Europe last term he knows they must do so much better next season.
The midfielder said: "It was great to get the win.
"They've beat us three times this season and we've let ourselves down in every game, so it's great for the fans to get the win.
"We've picked up a good few results since the new manager came in, we've been enjoying it.
"But we'll be looking to do a lot better than what we've done this season, that's for sure.
"The top six is where a club like Motherwell should be, so that's what we will be aiming for."
Crawford was on the receiving end of a rash challenge from Hamilton midfielder Ronan Hughes, which resulted in the Accies man seeing a straight red card after 33 minutes.
Asked about the challenge, Crawford appeared to have a bit of sympathy for his opponent.
He said: "I've just picked up a second ball, the ball is bouncing about to be fair to the boy and I don't think the guy has meant it, but I've knocked it past him and he's lunged in and caught me pretty high.
"Sometimes it can be sticky playing against 10 men and to be fair to Hamilton they didn't just sit in, they didn't make it easy for us and it was a tough game."
Mark O'Hara's strike just a few minutes later proved to be all that separated the sides and Crawford was delighted for his team mate to get on the scoresheet after his recent injury woes.
"Mark has been unlucky, he was out with a concussion for a few months there so it was great to have him back," said Crawford, who signed a contract extension at Fir Park earlier this month.
"I think that's his first start since he's come back and it's great for him to get a goal."
The focus now switches to Saturday's Scottish Cup quarter-final with Hibs at Easter Road.
The Steelmen lost 3-0 to Jack Ross' men at Fir Park earlier in the Premiership campaign, but have a good record in Leith, drawing 0-0 and winning 2-0 on their previous visits.
So Crawford is optimistic about landing a semi-final date at Hampden.
He said: "That's three wins on the bounce if you include the win over Morton on penalties [in the last round], so the boys are confident.
"It's a cup game, so anything can happen.
"Hibs are a tough side, they are up the top end of the league, but we've won there earlier in the season, so we'll go there with confidence and try to get the win."
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