Motherwell striker Tony Watt nets last-gasp winner at St Mirren and hails boss for playing his return to club 'perfectly'

Tony Watt praised boss Stuart Kettlewell for showing patience with him on his return to Motherwell - after the striker popped up with a dramatic last-gasp winner at St Mirren on Saturday.

The 30-year-old's first goal since his return to Fir Park was worth the wait as he headed home from Lennon Miller's free-kick in the 94th minute to snatch all three points off Saints in a 1-0 win, ending a three-game losing run for the Steelmen.

Watt has been utilised from the bench 10 times before starting last midweek's 4-1 defeat at Dundee and getting the nod again in Paisley.

And he reckons Kettlewell has handled his return on loan from Dundee United perfectly.

He said: “I was saying to one of the boys the other day that I had a stop-start pre-season at United. So if I had gone straight into the team here, I might not have been able to show my best.

“The manager has cracked that absolutely perfectly. If I’d gone in, I might have been hung out to dry. He’s let me build up, he’s let me work hard, given me minutes here and there and worked me hard.

“I can only thank him for that, for the patience. He’s been fair with me and I know what I’m going to get.

“When you’ve got good players and good people around you, I’m not going to moan about other boys’ performances. Everyone has been giving their all and the players in front of me have deserved to play.

“I said on Wednesday that I needed to take my chance and not come out the team. You learn as you grow. You know you can’t play every minute – no matter who you are.”

Watt previously left Fir Park under a cloud two years ago after choosing to sign a summer pre-contract with rivals Dundee United before eventually joining them in January 2022 when he was the top scorer in the Premiership.

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