Tony Watt explains why Motherwell fan 'abuse' convinced him to celebrate against Steelmen and Alan Burrows 'handbags'

He found a spat with him at Tannadice quite funny - but Dundee United's Tony Watt says he owes Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows his career.

The Steelmen let their top scorer depart for Premiership rivals United last month after Watt opted to sign a pre-contract with Thomas Courts' men.

He proceeded to score his first goal in Tangerine against his ex-employers in a 2-0 Motherwell defeat on Wednesday, which leaves Graham Alexander's side fifth.

Burrows and Watt exchanged words on the touchline, but the forward has nothing but thanks for the man who brought him to Fir Park in 2020.

Watt said: "Me and Alan Burrows cleared it up straight away. He’s heated, I’m heated and we were having a little bit of handbags, shall we say?

“Alan is a fantastic professional and he is Motherwell until he dies. If I’m celebrating in front of their fans then he takes that as a fan. He has taken it to heart because of what they have done for me.

“I can’t stress enough what Motherwell have done or what he personally has done. He is the guy who brought me to the club and the one who gave me the trial. He’s the one who pushed to sign me.

“And he is the guy who fought my corner every week. I maybe told him ‘to do one’ and he maybe told me ‘to do one’ and we were nearly wrestling but I don’t have any bad feelings towards that guy.

“He reinvigorated my career. More than anyone else at the club, he’s responsible for helping me get to where I am.”

Watt added: “It was nothing but handbags and it was actually quite funny. I’m not here to tickle his manly parts but I am really happy with what Alan Burrows did for me.

“We ended up cuddling outside the dressing room. We were telling each other to ‘f-off’ and ‘do one’ after the goal but that’s men.

“I