Kevin van Veen says boss Stuart Kettlewell has brought the belief back to Motherwell, and reckons they would have lost at Kilmarnock had the game been a fortnight ago.
Callum Slattery scored a spectacular free-kick equaliser in the last minute to cancel out Scott Robinson’s early opener and take a point from Rugby Park in a 1-1 draw.
Sub Stephen O’Donnell was unlucky to see a shot blocked in stoppage time, after Killie keeper Sam Walker had made top saves to deny Jon Obika, van Veen and Paul McGinn.
The Dutch striker hailed the character in the Motherwell dressing room after taking seven points from nine in their last three, and says they're getting back to normal.
“I would have said, a couple of weeks ago, that all heads would have dropped – myself and all my team-mates – we wouldn’t maybe have tried to win the game,” said van Veen.
“We were always trying, don’t get me wrong, but we maybe didn’t have the luck on our side and today we earned it.
“I personally think we weren’t really at the races.
“If you look at the last two games, on a personal level and as a team, I think we were slightly off it.
“The quality of Callum Slattery shows with the free-kick, we practice that a lot. He had his moment, fortunately he’s absolutely put a screamer into the top bins.
“I think we did deserve it in the second half, even still not being the way we have been.
“But that’s seven points in a week and a half, or so, and that’s a great turnaround for us.
“I’m very happy that we earned a point, because I think that was the least we deserved, even not being at our best.
“It shows the character in the dressing room at the moment. The gaffer has come in and made everybody believe again.”
Van Veen hinted that a half-time rollicking got Motherwell going in the second half.
He said: “I think everybody was at half-time very angry with 1-0 behind. It was very sloppy from us.
“But in the second half we came out, had a few moments when we did well, and I think our left-back [O’Donnell] ended up at the goal and almost scored, so there was still belief that we could turn this game around.
“But seven points in a week and a half for us, in the state we were in, it’s an amazing turn-around.”
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