Motherwell 1-1 Celtic: Stephen Robinson refuses to discuss penalty incident

Motherwell players swarmed around referee Willie Collum, who awarded Celtic a controversial late penalty

Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson refused to discuss his side's controversial late penalty concession in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Celtic.

'Well were on course to end Celtic's 65-game domestic unbeaten run with two minutes remaining, when Callum McGregor fell under the challenge of Andy Rose.

Willie Collum awarded the penalty, which Scott Sinclair scored to snatch a point for the Scottish champions.

"It feels a wee bit like a defeat," Robinson told BBC Radio Scotland.

"We even had chances towards the end when we broke. But it shows their level of commitment and desire and they won't let that get to them. But I just want to talk about the football, the good players in the Celtic side, the great boys in our side, not referees."

The 1-1 draw - the second match between the sides in just a week - follows Sunday's Scottish League Cup final, which Celtic won 2-0.

The showpiece also featured a contentious penalty award for Brendan Rodgers' men, with Sinclair tumbling to ground following contact from the arm of Motherwell's Cedric Kipre.

In the midweek Fir Park encounter, the Steelmen took a 78th-minute lead when Mikael Lustig steered the ball into his own net, only for the lead wiped out by Sinclair's calm spot kick.

"I'm disappointed for the boys, ever so proud of them, the squad we've put together never say die and have put a terrific performance on there," Robinson said.

"Not many teams create that many chances against Celtic. Credit to Celtic, they never give in and they've got some talented boys. But we were well worthy of a result tonight.

"You do, with five-six minutes left winning 1-0 [believe you are going to end the unbeaten run]. But that's why they're top of the league, they're champions, and 66 games unbeaten."

Callum McGregor went to ground under the challenge of Andy Rose

Robinson, who said the cup final penalty was "hard to take", admitted keeping his counsel was difficult.

"I'm not going to make a comment on it, I'll let people judge for themselves," he said of Wednesday's penalty. "It's disappointing we've not won the game because of that.

"What I will say is if we were allowed to play the game with 11 men on Sunday, perhaps it would've been a terrific cup final.

"Of course it's difficult [to bite your tongue], but you're talking about two very good football teams. When you think of the resources we've got, the budgets we've got, for us to compete at that level and to play with that kind of performance and intensity was fantastic."