Jens Berthel Askou believes his side were denied a clear penalty during their 3-2 defeat against Falkirk, as Motherwell fell to their third defeat in four league games.

Speaking at full-time, Askou was full of praise for his opponent, who secured top six with the victory.

“They’re a brilliant football team, and I put them up there among the best. Congratulations to them for the win and what they’ve achieved so far. I think they deserve it.

The Dane was pleased with many aspects of the performance, but an inability to capitalise on their positive moments cost them dearly.

“In terms of intentions, willpower, and work rate, our performance was good, but there were a lot of moments where we should have been better. Both in attacking moments, leading to attacks.

But also, there were moments to score goals we didn’t take, but there were moments we lost the ball in critical places where we have to be better.

“When we play against the best, then we need, sometimes, the things we cannot control to also go our way, so far this season, that has not happened. I have been hoping that, eventually, it will go our way.”

Askou was left frustrated with an early officiating decision on top goalscorer Tawanda Maswanhise. The striker seemingly collided with Falkirk’s Liam Henderson in the box, but Duncan Nicolson chose not to point to the spot.

There’s a clear penalty on Tawanda Maswanhise. It is very clear Liam Henderson wipes him out. That’s a clear penalty and a potential red card. After seven minutes we should have been 1-1. It was a massively decisive moment that, for some reason, they cannot get right.

“I think the penalty against Ibrahim Said is very debatable. I have seen situations like that many, many, many times where those situations haven’t been given as a penalty.

“We can’t get the penalty back now so there’s no reason to start to ask for one.

Hibernian’s 3-0 win over Kilmarnock means Motherwell’s hold on 4th place has reduced to three points. European football remains the priority for the Steelmen, and Askou encouraged his side to focus on improvement across the last six games.

“I know there are a lot of other clubs who can and will say the same. Our main focus for us is to try to improve, and we try to not let this stop us.

“Many of the performances we’ve had lately have been similar to the performances where we’ve just succeeded in winning. We just haven’t been as sharp in moments.”