SNS GroupJens Berthel Askou admits he must figure out how to get a 90-minute performance from Motherwell.
The Danish head coach’s dynamic team produced an outstanding first-half display at home to Falkirk on Saturday but their one-goal lead, from Tawanda Maswanhise’s strike, proved inadequate as the visitors won 2-1.
Despite plaudits aplenty for their play in Askou’s eight-game William Hill Premiership reign, Motherwell have managed just one victory. In five of those matches, the Steelmen gave up a winning position.
Askou voiced two major VAR gripes with referee Steven McLean, particularly for Ibrahim Said’s disallowed goal, but acknowledged his team could have done more to make those officiating issues an irrelevance.
He explained: “I told the guys I don’t want them to talk about the decision-making of the referee.
“That’s up to me and I felt that we had to address it this time.
“But that’s not their concern. They had to deal with it at the time – no matter what – and get the best out of it.
“My main concern going forward is how we get our performance level consistent throughout games and even better, so that we can deal better with momentum shifts for several reasons.
“There were things that we could control. We did that extremely well for most of the first half.
“Then, the second half was nowhere near the level.
“By raising the bar and having a strong performance through the 90 minutes, that would compensate for whatever things you can’t control.
“It’s up to us. There is a lot we can do better.”
Goals from Calvin Miller and veteran substitute Scott Arfield gave Falkirk their second Premiership victory.
John McGlynn’s men have conceded first in every game bar their 1-0 win at Aberdeen in late August.
That record speaks volumes for resilience but McGlynn is keen for them to have the first say.
The Bairns boss, whose team host Dundee on Saturday, said: “I’d like to know what would happen if we were the team to go in front.
“We’ve not managed to do that. We’ve been trying to fight back in virtually every game.
“Even after Scotty scored, we were under pressure.
“But, thanks to the lads’ togetherness and spirit, we managed to dig out the result.
“The character and resilience of the team was amazing.
“We’re delighted. I was really pleased with the second half. It was an awesome result for us. They will take huge confidence and belief from that.
“We’d like to go and put a home-win performance together now. If we can do that in our next game, we’ll climb the table again.”
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