Motherwell boss Steven Hammell was pleased with the effort his depleted side showed against a Celtic side he admits is "one of the best" the top flight has seen in years.
But he fears those efforts have come at a cost with a "serious" injury to defender Bevis Mugabi after a challenge by Aaron Mooy, as well as concerns for striker Kevin van Veen and midfield duo Stuart McKinstry and Ross Tierney.
The Steelmen were edged out by the Hoops at Fir Park after goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda were enough to seal victory, despite Tierney pulling a goal back late on.
Celtic remain seven points clear at the top of the Premiership after their third win over 'Well this season.
Despite the result, Hammell was happy with the effort his side displayed against the league leaders, with a squad that was already suffering with injuries.
He said: "I think tonight has been consistent with our season.
"Again it's a narrow loss by the odd goal against a very good opposition.
"They are one of the best teams I've seen in the league for years and we are absolutely at the bare bones.
"We try and win every game we play in. I know it is not working out that way right now, but we put a lot into the game again tonight.
"At no point this season tonight or this season have we come away and though: 'yeah, we were well beaten there.'
"We are putting a lot in without getting the end product and I understand that is the most important thing, so it is important we turn that around.
"The longer the game went on, for sure, [they could have taken something from the game].
"As the game went on, I felt we played with more momentum second half and intensity.
"We played higher up the pitch and we were a bit more aggressive with it.
"But, again, we just fell short."
On the mounting injury list, Hammell added: "We've got a lot of issues.
"Bevis came off and it looks pretty serious.
Kevin has picked something up, Ross Tierney as well, Stuart McKinstry too, so we are well beyond the bare bones now.
"The squad is being stretched to the absolute maximum.
"And you see what we were playing against tonight. We are competing well but ultimately we are just a little bit short.
"Kevin was struggling a bit. He has done a lot recently and he has been quite tailored with his work-load recently so we just felt that we are potentially going to need him as well.
"So it was about monitoring that and being careful with him, so we'll see how he is tomorrow.
"Stuart has a very similar one. He was struggling and we need to be careful with him.
"Whether he will make it for the weekend or not, I'm not sure and it's the same with Ross Tierney."
The Steelmen now head to St Johnstone on Saturday in the final game before the break for the World Cup.
And it remains to be seen what side Hammell will be able to patch together for their last game until their return on December 17.
He added: "It has been a tough period with some very difficult fixtures coming thick and fast, but we know the importance of the game at the weekend now and how important it is to finish for the break on a positive note.
"But we are going to ask the same group of boys to go again and whatever we've got available to us on Saturday, we will give it our all.
"The boys have been fantastic. The workrate and effort, especially second half tonight, has been excellent. They put everything into it."
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