Motherwell interim manager Steven Hammell disappointed to go down to late defeat

Posted Sunday, August 07, 2022 by PA

Motherwell interim manager Steven Hammell admitted it was a hard one to take as his side conceded a last-minute goal from Stevie May as they lost 2-1 to St Johnstone at Fir Park.

The manner of the defeat was particularly sore for the hosts given they had got themselves level only moments earlier, as Sean Goss’ deep corner found its way over the line after touches from Sondre Solholm and Graham Carey to cancel out Jamie Murphy’s first-half opener for the Saints.

Hammell also revealed he has received no further update regarding the vacant manager’s position at the Fir Park club.

He said: “Nothing’s changed and it’s the last thing on my mind just now, it’s just an overriding feeling of disappointment.

“That’s nothing to do with me, that’s out of my control and I’ll let the people who make those decisions do whatever they feel is best.

“It was a game we were confident we’d put everything into the preparation and we would get a positive result. It’s never easy but to lose it the way we did, it’s a hard one to take.

“The first goal is a straight long ball, with the second striker running so it’s the most basic movement and we struggled with it.

“The second one, again, is a long ball and we make an absolute mess of it which results in a corner and we’re still looking to chase the game and win the game.

“In the second phase, we switch off which can’t happen and the two goals we lose are poor.”

The interim boss also revealed defender Jake Carroll will be out for a period of time after suffering an injury in training on Friday.

He added: “Unfortunately he got a bad injury in training, it was really innocuous – there was nobody within five or six yards of him and it looks a real bad one for Jake which is a massive blow for us because it was a big part of what we wanted to do.”

Saints boss Callum Davidson has no problem with those who are tipping St Johnstone to struggle this season, as his side got their first win of the league campaign.

He said: “I quite like that every year people write you off. In the previous season we had a lot of expectations on our shoulders – this season no one thinks we can do anything.

“I think I’ve got a really good group of players there – it’s a harder league, it’s as simple as that. It’s such a small league and last year was so tight so it’s important we start well and give ourselves an opportunity to stay in the league.

“It’s positive that the spirit is there, I’ve got a lot of players who have played in the league before who know the game and I can see in the dressing room I’ve got a good togetherness.

“It’s important to get that first win of the season, it’s going to be a really tough league this season, you look at the teams above us and obviously the bigger teams are spending money.

“Picking up points is really important and for me, just happy we got that win today.”