St Johnstone boss Craig Levein happy to ‘move on’ after draw with Motherwell that had few positives

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein admitted that his team put in a performance against Motherwell that is best forgotten.

This was the Perth side’s third draw of the season when facing Stuart Kettlewell’s side and the third time they’ve not been able to hold on to a lead.

On this occasion, getting out with a point proved to be a favourable scenario given the way the game panned out.

Levein pointed to his team having played a Wednesday night fixture, while the visitors had six days between games, as a factor.

And it ended up being a case of taking the draw and “let’s move on”.

“We got off to a good start with the goal,” said Levein, whose players were in front after three minutes, thanks to a Ryan McGowan finish from a set-piece.

“Funnily enough, though, Motherwell actually started better than us before we scored.

“Our goal was slightly against the run of play, I felt.

“Motherwell were the better side early on, then we changed the shape to a back four which seemed to help a little bit.

“But it was a day of fighting for second balls and being competitive.

“The good thing from my point of view in this match was that we did compete.

“They didn’t have a game midweek.

“We had a tough match against Aberdeen.

“So I expected us to be a wee bit tired.

“And that was evident in some of the decision-making and the execution of passes.

“We ended up playing the second-ball game. We’re better than that but the game was what it was.

“We’ve got another point, worked hard and I’ve got no issues there. But the football wasn’t great.”

Levein added: “It was a case of just digging in, with a couple of exceptions.

“I thought Andy (Considine) was excellent, he showed some composure, chesting the ball on occasions when others might have cleared it.

“I thought David (Keltjens) had another good match at right-back. I’m really pleased with him.

“The rest fought their corner. That was it basically.”

Midfield drop-off

Saints’ midfield lacked the energy and fluency that Levein became accustomed to witnessing in the pre-break fixtures – and for parts of the Aberdeen match.

“If we go to the well quite often, it is more difficult,” he said.

“The pitch is a bit bumpy as well which doesn’t help sometimes if you have a little indecision and lacking in confidence.

“Taking chances is something that goes out with window – the ball goes long.

“But there’s not a lot to talk about. It wasn’t a great game.

“We worked hard, we fought our corner, we didn’t play very well, we got a point, let’s move on.”