Motherwell praised for adaptability after easy win on difficult Fir Park surface

Jens Berthel Askou hailed his Motherwell players for their adaptability as they swept aside Kilmarnock 4-0 on a difficult surface at Fir Park.

The Steelmen have attracted plaudits for their free-flowing style of play this season.

However, on a visibly worn pitch, Askou’s side were faced with a difficult test, but they passed it emphatically.

Elijah Just opened the scoring on 29 minutes before Tom Lowery was ordered off after 45 minutes following a second booking.

Tawanda Maswanhise netted his 16th goal of the season a minute into stoppage time to double Motherwell’s advantage and compound a miserable end to the opening 45 minutes for Kilmarnock.

Ibrahim Said and Lukas Fadinger added further goals after the break to cap a dominant display.

Askou said: “That was really impressive when you look at the condition the pitch is in.

“Our ability to play fast in really tight areas and really accelerate the game, both in our own penalty box to beat the high pressure, in the centre of the pitch, and in the final third.

“Of course it’s a challenge, the groundsman and the club are doing everything they can to make sure we have the best circumstances under our feet.

“There are a lot of things going on that we can’t control, the weather around new year hit us hard and we’ve had so many games at Fir Park over the last three or four months.”

Motherwell are now unbeaten in nine games at home, keeping clean sheets in every match.

They had a close escape when Liam Polworth netted after rounding Calum Ward, though his goal was ruled out following a lengthy VAR check.

Askou added: “It was very close that we didn’t get the clean sheet but an offside is an offside, especially with the new resource we have available.

“We got saved there, though aside from a few moments that Calum needed to look after, and one where his metal friend helped him out.

“It was a top defensive, disciplined performance, and finally some attacking effectiveness.”

Killie boss Neil McCann was fuming at the decision to send off Lowery.

Having picked up a first yellow for a challenge on Callum Slattery, the midfielder was shown a second booking after a poorly-timed lunge on Maswanhise.

The Rugby Park side remain three points ahead of Livingston at the foot of the Premiership table and are without a victory in their last 17 matches.

“The goal getting chopped off from Poly (Liam Polworth) is a puzzler,” McCann said.

“I’ve seen an angle and I can’t see how they can call it as offside. I think it’s a guess.

“That’s not what kills us in the game – the red card kills us. Tom had two tackles.

“The first one I’m told is ‘reckless’. If that was reckless, the game is done.”