Stuart Kettlewell cannot defend Ross County thrashing by Motherwell
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MANAGER Stuart Kettlewell says he couldn’t defend Ross County’s performance after they were hammered 4-0 at Motherwell.
The Staggies were unfortunate to go into half time behind with Tony Watt’s strike being the difference.
But goals from Mark O’Hara’s penalty, Callum Lang and Devante Cole was a fair reflection on how Motherwell overwhelmed the visitors in the second half to deservedly take all three points.
Kettlewell says he had no complaints about the scoreline and was disappointed to how his team reacted in the second half.
“I’ve had to fight in being asked questions about our fragilities of conceding goals, being behind in games and looking soft,” he said.
“But I said to the players I can’t defend what happened in the second half and how loose we are.
“When Motherwell scored their second goal it is a point for us to regroup and consolidate and get a route back into the game.
“But the opportunities that we gifted and slack play there is that mental aspect we did become soft.
“It frustrates me because there was positives in the first half about how we could take the game on the front foot.
“It was a seriously disappointing day and the scoreline tells you that.
“But when you look at the opportunities that is a real frustration for me.”
Kettlewell says there were positives to take from the game, in particular performances on the wing from Regan Charles-Cook and Josh Reid.
But he said the belief in front of goal was missing.
“We had a lot of joy in the wide area, I just wanted to encourage that bit of belief when we got in there to complete the act,” said Kettlewell.
“I felt there was a bit of apprehension and that we second guessed ourselves in the final third.
“If we could have built on that in the second half there would have been a proper game out there.”
