Kai Andrews reckons Motherwell shot themselves in the foot as they crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Hibs on Saturday.
The on-loan Coventry City kid made his first start since a whirlwind move to Fir Park last week and felt Motherwell could have got a better grip of the game in stages at Easter Road.
Goals from Martin Boyle and Nectarios Triantis had the Hibees 2-0 up and cruising inside 30 minutes.
Though sub Callum Slattery pulled a goal back with a terrific free-kick from just outside the box, Boyle netted his second and Hibs’ third from the spot just minutes later, after Stephen O’Donnell had fouled Lewis Miller.
And Motherwell’s day got worse as Jack Vale was shown a straight red card for a foul on Boyle just before the final whistle.
Andrews, 18, reckons there were periods of the game that Motherwell looked good in, but didn’t take advantage.
He said: “It was a very difficult game. We knew what we were coming up against, they’ve put in some good performances recently.
“I think we flowed in and out of our performance. We had some really good spells with the ball in the first 20 or 25 minutes, looked comfortable.
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot a bit, with two goals that were definitely avoidable, but then Slatts comes on and brings quality onto the pitch and scores a very good goal.
“We thought we had got back into the game, but it was a slow performance and I think we should have got a lot more opportunities after that goal came.
“But that slight lapse in concentration meant the penalty was given away, the free kick was given away, in a poor position and it set us back a bit.
“But we can definitely build on the performance.”
Andrews only found out he was moving to Motherwell last Monday, and since then has played in a 0-0 draw at Kilmarnock and yesterday’s 3-1 humbling at Hibs.
The winger hopes to make a name for himself back at Coventry, and that can only be good for Motherwell fans.
He said: “It’s a very important move in my career. The main thing for me is to find first-team minutes, and get that experience, which I’ve been given the opportunity to do. I’m very happy with it.
“That’s the plan; to come up here, show what I can do, get as much experience as I can, and take that back to Coventry.
“Hopefully that’s good new for Motherwell, because they’ll get the best out of me.
“It has all been a bit of a rush for me, only getting the call on Monday that I was making the loan move, and then with flights, training and stuff, it has been quite frantic for me.
“But I think I’ve settled in well, and that has all been down to the boys in the changing room, and the staff around the building, who have helped me a lot.
“I’m just looking to build on both performances in the last two games and see what happens next.”
Next up for Motherwell is a trip to fellow Premiership side St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup fourth round on Saturday.
Andrews said: “That will be my first game in the competition and I’m definitely very excited for that.”