Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly insists he'd have been disappointed to draw with Dundee United, never mind lose the game, after being a spectator for most of their 2-1 defeat.
Skipper Stephen O'Donnell didn't get close enough to Ryan Edwards for the opener in the first half after Charlie Mulgrew's fine cross, and then Mulgrew grabbed the winner 13 minutes from time after getting ahead of Nathan McGinley to poke the ball home when Motherwell failed to defend a set-piece.
It was the Steelmen's third defeat on the spin after 2-0 reverses at home to Celtic and away to Hearts in their previous fixtures.
But even if they managed to hold out for a share of the spoils after Tony Watt's penalty had cancelled out Edwards' opener, Kelly says he still would have been far from happy.
The 25-year-old told Lanarkshire Live Sport: "We are disappointed to lose, but we would have been disappointed to draw the game, actually.
"I didn't have anything of note to do, no major saves to make and I thought we defended our box well, apart from two occasions where we've paid the price for it.
"Dundee United are a very good team and I'm sure they will play a lot better than that.
"But we need to win that game.
"I think we deserved to win it, but it wasn't our day.
"It was a hell of a cross from Charlie Mulgrew for the first goal. I was trying to play really aggressively and I still couldn't get there, but it was an unbelievable cross and we didn't defend it well enough.
"The second one is annoying. It's really poor from our point of view.
"We all make mistakes, but Dundee United have punished us so we just need to try and stay positive."
Kelly's counterpart Benjamin Siegrist was by far the busier of the two and the Swiss shot-stopper denied Watt with a stunning save just before 'Well's leveller.
And Kelly praised his rival for his performance.
He added: "Siegrist is a top goalkeeper. He's shown that in all his time at Dundee United.
"He's a good guy, a good goalie and it didn't surprise me he's made a great few saves.
"He's played his part in his team getting the result and there's not many better in the league."
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