Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell praises 'resilience' after battling draw

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell praised his side’s resilience as they battled back for what could be a “huge” point against St Mirren.

And the Fir Park gaffer praised the contribution made by 12-goal striker Theo Bair.

Bair struck in 74 minutes, finishing off a well-worked move with Jack Vale’s looping cross nodded down by Stephen O’Donnell for the striker to bundle into the net from close range.

That cancelled out Marcus Fraser’s 18th-minute opener, heading in from a Greg Kiltie cross.

Kettlewell said: “The most pleasing aspect for me is us not being at our best, not passing as well as I’ve seen us do, not connecting key players in the game, and we still had that bit of character.

“Something we had worked on through the week, and we felt there might be something there for us, was the restart with the throw-in, and that results in that cross from Jack Vale into the back post, and good composure from Stephen O’Donnell.

“Big Theo, it wasn’t his best day today but he chalks up another goal and gets that natural goal-scorer’s finish by bundling it across the line.

“All in all, a draw probably for me is that fair result.

“We wanted more, but I’m not so sure we played well enough to get it.”

Kettlewell added: “We started well but then made it hard for ourselves.

“I thought we started great in the game, played with a real purpose, were on the front foot and we were a real threat down the left-hand side in particular.

“Opportunities were starting to come for us, but there was a frantic four or five minute spell, St Mirren hitting the crossbar wth a free kick.

“Even in the follow-up that cannons off the bar as well, from that second phase, and it probably rocked us a wee bit, leading into the goal.

“The goal we conceded comes