Motherwell star happy to be back in Steelmen fold as he explains manager's demands to stay in starting XI

Motherwell midfielder Callum Slattery was disappointed his return to manager Graham Alexander's starting XI was marked with defeat - but the performance wasn't bad.

The Englishman last started away to Celtic in December and made his first start since the 12th last month in Saturday's 2-0 Premiership defeat to Hearts.

Andy Halliday netted in the first half before Ellis Simms scored after the break to put the Jambos out of reach. Alexander's men remain in fourth after the loss.

Slattery thinks his own performance and the team's was good, but it wasn't enough. He believes his start was merited off the back of hard work in training.

He said: "I'm very happy to be back. It was nice to be in the starting XI. I've been working hard in training and we have a lot of competition for starting places at the moment.

"It was nice to be back on a personal level but we are disappointed with the result. You could say that (a big game to come into) but it's not like you are doing nothing for six weeks.

"You are training every day and working hard. Every lad knows their roles and responsibilities. Personally, I was happy with my performance.

"As a team I think we played some nice stuff too, but we are disappointed with the result."

Alexander has added Liam Shaw to his midfield options this month while Ross Tierney is an attacking midfielder who has arrived at Fir Park.

Slattery is loving the added competition in midfield as Alexander demands the best from everyone in ML1.

The former Southampton player said: "I think it's great. The fact we have a lot of competition and a lot of good players to compete with for starting places is good, as it pushes us all every day.

"It betters us so there is a fight for those places. I think I need to go