Callum Slattery reckons Motherwell showed St Johnstone too much respect in their Scottish Cup defeat on Saturday, and need to show up better in Perth again next weekend.
Makenzie Kirk’s ninth-minute strike was enough to see Saints through to the last-16, and Motherwell return to McDiarmid Park on league duty next weekend, hoping for a much better performance.
The Steelmen didn’t force a meaningful save from Saints keeper Andy Fisher, and midfield ace Slattery says that has to change.
He said: “I’m not too sure what went wrong, maybe we showed them too much respect.
“In a cup game like this, you’ve got to lay a glove on them from the start and start fast, and it didn’t feel like we did that, which is disappointing.
“It’s disappointing not to get a run in the competition. We need to win games to have a cup run and we’ve not played to a standard to deserve a win today.
“It’s very disappointing but we need to come back and put on a performance next week and get a result.
“We’ve got them in the league next weekend and we can’t turn up like we did.”
Over 1700 fans made the trip north to cheer on their side in the cup clash, and were vocal in their disapproval after the game.
Slattery said: “The crowd showed up in numbers, the support was there, but we just didn’t turn up on the pitch, and we need to learn from what quickly.
“It’s disappointing, because the fans turned up in their numbers but we didn’t give them what they deserved.
“You’ve got to expect a reaction. They showed up in the numbers that they do and, not just the result but the performance wasn’t there, and we lost, so as footballers we have to expect that kind of pressure.
“They have every right to feel like they do, because it’s disappointing.”
Slattery has been back in the team after a cruciate ligament injury kept him out for over a year, and says he feels stronger.
He said: “I’ve been in the team for a couple of weeks now, I’m slowly getting used to it and I want to get on the park more and more and make an impact.
“I feel like I’m getting there, week by week, in training, and the more minutes I play the more up to speed I’ll get.
“I scored against Hibs, and to come on and make the impact and help the team in that team was good, but we didn’t get any points out of it.”