Managers Post Motherwell

24/01/12: JM - "Possession of the ball was poor from us and we went far too long too many times."

Jim McIntyre did not get the win that would have taken the Pars off the foot of the SPL:-

"It is very disappointing but there is a reason that we are bottom of the league; it is our consistency levels. With Motherwell going down to ten men there was an opportunity there for us to go and grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

"We did not pass the ball quickly enough or with any sort of tempo to try and make our extra man count. I also thought that we did not work hard enough off the ball to force Motherwell into making mistakes. For me that was the story of the game."

When Stephen Craigan was sent off in 17 minutes that might have proved the turning point of the game but instead it appeared that it was Motherwell who dug in and reacted better to the decision:-

"They certainly passed the ball better than us and when you come off a result like we had on Saturday, it was an ideal opportunity tonight to try and get another one. With the early sending off you are hopeful that your team will go on and do that. Possession of the ball was poor from us and we went far too long too many times. When we did pass it then we would get from side to side and get an opportunity to cross into the box. Equally our delivery at times was poor."

Andy Kirk's goal had the potential to change the game, the Manager continued:-

"It was a great finish from Kirkie and you are hopeful then that you are going to kick on. For five or ten minutes we had a wee spell but there was nothing of note created. We huffed and puffed a bit and Motherwell thoroughly deserved their win."

Paul Gallacher goes in for his operation on Thursday and the injury list has grown again after the game at Fir Park. Andy Barrowman sustained a first half injury when his calf 'popped'.

"The physio will assess it but normally when you do your calf it can be at least three weeks, maybe up to six weeks."

Motherwell manager, Stuart McCall was delighted to take his side back into third position in the league:-

"We talked about before the game about how big an incentive Dunfermline had to win the game after their great win on Saturday but we had a massive incentive too. It is September since we have won here. We are constantly reminded of how long it had been since we last won at home, tonight we scored three good goals and the players kept their energy levels up very well. They got a really good goal to make it 2-1 but overall I thought the endeavour was very good."

McCall was forced into changes by the early dismissal but saw his decisions pay handsomely.

"It was a difficult decision to take Jamie Murphy off after Stephen's (Craigan) red card, he hadn't done anything wrong. Perhaps it would have been easier to take Henrik (Ojamma) off but we felt his energy had caused them some problems early on and thankfully he popped up with the first goal - it's a happy dressing room but a tired one."

McCall had the usual gaffer's response to whether or not he had not spoken to Stephen Craigan following his dismissal:-

"I haven't spoken to Stephen or seen the decision again, my full focus at half-time was on making sure the players on the park were ready to go back out there. I had a word with the referee as he came off the park, he said it wasn't a head-butt but he made the gesture of a head-butt, I will have to wait until I see it."

Hear more from Jim McIntyre at the Dunfermline Media Centre