Stuart Kettlewell reveals Rangers foul 'acknowledged' by referee as he rues Motherwell star's honesty

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell admits the Steelmen’s lack of street smarts proved costly as they reached the end of the road at Hampden.

The brave Fir Park outfit spent the first 45 minutes soaking up Gers pressure before landing an Andy Halliday sucker-punch. But they weren’t able to complete the job as Rangers responded with two strikes after the break. Nedim Bajrami fired the winner but Kettlewell was left to bemoan Zach Robinson’s failure to earn a free-kick after being fouled in the build-up. He said: “We’re bitterly disappointed. Everyone can see how much we poured into the game. We obviously got ourselves into a real good position at half-time.

“I never want to be a glorious loser so I don't want to sit here and start to make excuses or start to pat ourselves on the back because we get to this stage. It's been a good achievement to get here. But we just felt that in moments of the game we probably just lacked that wee bit of composure and a wee bit better decision-making.

“The second goal was symptomatic of that. It was a foul on Zach Robinson, which the referees maybe acknowledged at the time. But he stays on his feet, tries to keep the ball alive. There’s no criticism of Zach, he's too honest sometimes.

“But I just felt that that was one that led to a square pass and obviously Rangers break up-field to score. From our own point of view, I think we just have to look to improve slightly on the ball. That'll be the bit that would get us over this hurdle.

“That's not a criticism, that's what we want to try and evolve to. But the next stage for us. It’s a sore one today but we have to pick the players up because we don't want a hangover off the back of a disappointing day."

Well were led out by 18-year-old Lennon