Motherwell star Liam Kelly swerves Stephen Robinson return question as he admits club needed more games before Euro tie

Liam Kelly admits Motherwell should have played more matches in preparation for the start of the new season.

The Steelmen were caught cold by Sligo Rovers in the Europa Conference League and suffered an embarrassing 3-0 aggregate defeat over the two legs that led to manager Graham Alexander's departure.

The League of Ireland side are already well into their season, while Motherwell played just two friendlies before their clash - a 5-1 win in Austria over Vorwarts Steyr and a 0-0 draw with Championship side Partick Thistle.

Asked if their preparation could have been better Kelly, who captained the team in the Euro ties, admitted: "In hindsight, I think we could have played one or two more games.

"Sligo are in the middle of their season and you can see that in both games. Not so much late on, but early on in terms of their sharpness.

"I think they started both games better in comparison to us.

"But there's no excuse for us losing that game.

"I'm not going to say if we'd be in the middle of our season we would have beaten Sligo, there's no excuses.

"The players on the night were not good enough and we all know that."

Motherwell - now with just five wins in their last 23 competitive games - go into their first match of the Scottish Premiership season against St Mirren today with Academy chief Steven Hammell and under-18s coach Brian Kerr taking the team on an interim basis.

The Buddies, who have four matches in the Premier Sports Cup under their belt, are managed by former 'Well boss Stephen Robinson and he has been linked with a shock return to Fir Park.

While Kelly swerved the question on Robinson potentially returning, he wants 'Well to put in a performance for the highly respected caretaker coaches.

He said: "Stephen