Defiant Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson has insisted he will not “change his thinking” despite the Steelmen slipping to a fifth consecutive Scottish Premiership defeat.
A dramatic 3-2 loss to Kilmarnock leaves the North Lanarkshire side just one point above the foot of the table. Although Motherwell battled back strongly after conceding early and briefly turned the game around, Johansson believes his side’s inability to see out matches continues to cost them valuable points.
“It’s difficult to accept the fact that we lost this match. We did so many good things in this game. We reacted fantastically to conceding so early. After that, I saw a Motherwell team that created big chances, pressed together, and scored two goals.
“At half-time, we knew they would try to be more direct, and that was something we needed to handle. We managed the start of the second half well enough, but we conceded two unacceptable goals.”
Despite goals from Alex Lowry and Seb Palmer-Houlden, Johansson acknowledged that Motherwell must become far more resilient defensively if they are to improve their away record this season.
“Even if we created more chances to score today, we can’t rely on scoring three goals away from home to take points and victories. We conceded goals in a way that was unacceptable, and it’s something we need to improve.
“It’s the basics that we’re getting wrong, and that’s not good enough.”
However, despite a disappointing run of results, Johansson remains committed to his philosophy. Encouraging performances earlier in the campaign, including European progress in the UEFA Conference League and league victories over Hibernian and Dundee United, suggest there is still reason for optimism at Fir Park.
“We’re not going to change our thinking; we’re going to improve. Whether that’s through personnel or what we do on the pitch, it’s probably both. We need to make sure we don’t concede goals like this. For the third goal, we simply allowed a runner to get in behind us, and that’s something we need to work on.
“I can’t accept the way we ended this game. It’s really difficult to accept how we lost.”
Motherwell return to Fir Park next Sunday to face Hearts. With the visitors returning from a European trip to Turkey and looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Celtic Park, Johansson will hope the encounter provides an opportunity for his side to halt their slide and kick-start their season.
