Motherwell's Morton Scottish Cup shocker down to players, says Andy Halliday

Andy Halliday reckons the heat for Motherwell's Scottish Cup shocker at Morton should be on the players and not boss Stuart Kettlewell after Friday night's dismal display.

The Steelmen were second best at Cappielow in the 2-1 defeat and supporters booed the team off the pitch as the club exited the competition at the last 16 stage to a Championship side.

Halliday, who was a second half substitute, knows the performance just wasn't up to scratch and says after a week of intense preparation from Kettlewell and his staff, it is the players who failed to execute the game plan and the blame lies with them for their early exit.

He said: “It was extremely difficult but we’ve no excuses. We were outfought from the first whistle.

“It shouldn’t take going 2-0 down before we start playing our stuff and put them under pressure.

“We had three days of analysis and knew what they’d be like. We knew the ball would come in the box, that they would be aggressive and direct.

“We were well prepped but I don’t think we started well enough. We let Morton play their game – we got dragged into it.

“But Morton deserve all the credit and we need to take the deserved criticism that’s coming our way.

“It is difficult because the fans are probably bored of hearing excuses after games – but we didn’t deserve to be in the hat for the next round.

“Did they want it more than us? That comment alone should hurt the boys.

“We have to bounce back because we felt as if we had gathered a wee bit of momentum.

“I’d like to think that it was an unusual performance from us on Friday night.

“The manager was angry and rightly so. He warned us what to expect. We had seen enough clips of them at throw-ins and corners to know what we’d be up against.

“But