Defiant Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou says that his team will continue playing out from the back despite the howler from goalkeeper Calum Ward that cost them at a critical point of their heartbreaking defeat to Celtic.
The Steelmen had turned around a one goal deficit at Celtic Park to lead going into the final 20 minutes, but a poor pass from Ward put an equaliser on a silver platter for the champions, who went on to seal the three points in stoppage time.
Berthel Askou refused to put any of the blame for the loss on his keeper though, and he remained adamant that his approach was the reason why his team had been so competitive in the match in the first place.
Furthermore, he believes that it will bring long-term dividends for the club both on and off the pitch.
“Obviously everyone can see that it's a mistake, but you can make mistakes in many ways,” Berthel Askou said.
“I think for us, how we see ourselves becoming successful, one thing is getting points and getting as high up in the league as possible, and the other thing is to develop our players to the next level and making them interesting for bigger clubs, so we can make a good business as well.
“It is the way we play and if we think we can come here and give the ball away immediately when they apply their pressure then we would have had no chance to stand against it if we played the whole game as we did the last 20 minutes.
“So, it's our way to get our strength into the game and sometimes there's a little mistake that the best teams obviously are able to punish, which I think everyone is frustrated about right now. But in the big picture, I think there's a lot of positives, more positives than negatives to take away from how we played.”
Berthel Askou thought that the late goal from Daizen Maeda was harsh on his men, but was also a consequence of some injuries to key players like Callum Slattery and Elijah Just coming home to roost.
“I think we gave it our best shot,” he said.
“You can always say what you think you deserve or not, but I also think Celtic, especially the last 20 minutes, played some of the best and most high tempo football I've seen them play for a while.
“I'm happy that they had to do that to actually beat us, that it wasn't too easy for them, and yeah, many, many things to learn when we play against the best.
“I think this team will grow. We've had a lot of our really big players who were really important players for us in the beginning of the season out for a while.
“We've had good results and strong performances, again today, in that period and I'm confident with them coming back over the next week or two that we will have even more firepower for the next period, and especially the next time we play Celtic.”
