Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says two key VAR decisions were spot-on as they beat Ross County 2-0 in Dingwall, and says his players have learned to play against 10 men.
Referee Don Robertson initially awarded a penalty for a Calum Butcher challenge on County’s Alex Iacovitti just after the interval, but reversed the decision after being called to his monitor by Kevin Clancy.
Robertson also only booked Jack Baldwin for a foul on Kevin van Veen as he raced through on goal, but on advice to view the footage, red-carded the defender instead.
Motherwell went on to win the game comfortably, with van Veen bagging his 16th and 17th goals of the season in 74 and 88 minutes.
Kettlewell told the club’s media team: “There are two of what people will term big VAR decisions, but they were correct, and I felt we kept our discipline within what is a scrappy game at times.
“We’re a club in general, over the last 18 months, that has struggled a wee bit playing against 10 men.
“That becomes a positive, for me, and I think for the players as well, because they proved to themselves that they can handle that situation.
“For us it was maybe just tweaking one or two things to see if we could create an impact on the game, and I think we did that.
“If you look at the first goal, we did alter something just before the goal and it came up trumps – the cross, the stand-up into the box, the quality of the finish.
“I’m not saying that was exactly what we were leading to, but we felt that we could get into those types of areas – but the players have to execute that, which they did very well.
“You know there’s going to be an onslaught at times, they’ve got big guys they can throw up, so it was standing strong to that and managing the game, which for me was excellent.”
Kettlewell says the players were well aware of what was at stake in the game, which saw the Steelmen move six points ahead of County and just one off eight-placed St Johnstone.
He said: “We knew, going into it, that it was a massive game. We knew what was at stake.
“We spoke to the players about enjoying these occasions when you know that there is so much at stake, and I’m delighted to come out on the right side of it.
“I don’t think we were perfect in the game but you could see the conditions, the nature of the game, and two strikers that you know you’re going to have to play against, because they go on the quickest route to goal.
“There were bits that could be better within that, but I felt that we stood up and showed a great deal of professionalism in the big moments in the game.”
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