St Mirren 0 Motherwell 0: Winless run stretches to 14 for Well as Liam Kelly penalty save earns point

The Steelmen are now in the relegation play-off spot in the Premiership

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell insists he was happy with his side's performance after a goal-less draw away at high-flying St Mirren saw the Steelmen slip into the relegation play-off spot in the Premiership.

It took a Liam Kelly penalty save from former Motherwell midfielder Mark O'Hara in the second half to deny fourth-place Saints a victory, but Kettlewell felt his side did enough to win the game and put an end to their long winless streak - which now stands at 14 games.

Blair Spittal dragged a shot wide, Georgie Gent headed straight at Saints keeper Zach Hemming and Callum Slattery had a penalty claim turned down in a strong second half showing.

But Motherwell had to settle for a fourth draw in five games that leaves them 11th and just five points clear of bottom side Livingston, who have two games in hand.

Kettlewell, whose side were joint-top of the table when they last won in September away to Hearts, said: "Ultimately we can all debate and argue about what happens over the course of 90 minutes but we by far had the best chances in the game.

“I understand that Liam Kelly makes a save from a penalty and one down to his right-hand side from Thierry Small, outwith that the clear-cut chances in the game were ours.

“I expect when certain guys are landing in those positions, like Blair Spittal, Callum Slattery, Mika Biereth, Theo Bair towards the end, I’m thinking we’re getting the right guys in position to convert them.

“There’s a little bit of frustration of course that we’ve not come away with three points because I thought we were well organised, well drilled in tough conditions – it was always going to be hard coming here without the wind, the rain and everything else that came with it.

“We want to win a game, we want to try break this duck and move in the right direction, but performance-level wise and what we put out on the pitch today, I’m relatively happy with overall.”

A Christmas Eve visit from title-chasing Rangers now awaits as Motherwell seek to arrest their winless run.

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