Motherwell don't lack cutting edge - Askou

Motherwell had plenty of possession but struggled to create chances

Jens Berthel Askou has denied his Motherwell side lack a cutting edge despite drawing a blank in their Scottish Premiership draw at St Mirren.

St Mirren looked all set to take the lead within the opening 90 seconds when Mark O'Hara latched on to a knock down by Mikael Mandron but blasted well wide of goal.

But the Motherwell midfield, and in particular Elliot Watt, took control of the game and Tawanda Maswanhise was denied an opener when Shamal George saved at his near post after escaping the Saints defence.

However, despite having 67% of possession, the Fir Park side could only manage three shots on target.

"I wouldn't call it a lack of creativity," said Askou.

"We tried different stuff but we have to give credit to St Mirren as well. It's a team that's been in the top six the last two years, and you saw last time against Celtic that they also had difficulty in opening them up.

"We tried our best and we know we need to improve in that phase and get even sharper and had we been a little bit sharper in a few of these situations today, we could also have decided the game and made it tip our way.

"We'll keep working on that."

St Mirren were better in the second half thanks to a string of changes made by Stephen Robinson, but other than a couple of near things for Alex Gogic and a long-range effort from Keanu Baccus that was straight down the throat of Calum Ward in the Well goal there was little to worry the visitors' defence.

What was the talking point?

Scottish football fans may not have heard too much about the new Motherwell manager, but Askou certainly has his team playing a style that is refreshing and excellent to watch.

His players look comfortable in bringing the ball forward and utilising the skills of the three midfielders who rarely gave their counterparts a sniff in the game.

What was missing though was a striker with a little bit of composure in front of goal from either team.

The wind certainly played its part, but it was a fairly comfortable afternoon for the goalkeepers with little by way of clear cut chances created.

Which player stood out?

The domination in terms of possession by the visitors means you can only look at Motherwell players to find the stand-out performer.

Elijah Just and Callum Slattery caught the eye, as did Lukas Fadinger who marshalled the area just in front of the defence.

However, Watt stood out from the rest. The 25-year-old former Wolves youth player was excellent throughout, and in a game where there was little creativity on show he was always willing and able get himself on the ball and drive forward.

Standout stats

What they said

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "It was a poor game overall. We certainly weren't at our best today.

"Motherwell passed the ball around a lot in their own half of the pitch without really getting anywhere and I take responsibility for it.

"We overthought the press a little bit and they were expecting us to press with real positivity and I don't think we did. But I take the blame for that. We probably complicated it a little bit. On the ball, as a group, we can be a lot better.

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou told BBC Scotland: "We did amazing, the two centre-backs were outstanding, totally cancelled their game and it felt like we won almost every second ball in the game. A big performance.

"We know we have to be more effective and some of the opportunities we had. We had not many - a few - they also had a few, mainly on set pieces and a few shots from distance which Calum dealt with perfectly.

"But we played some really good football at times in difficult conditions. The pitch is actually really, really good but obviously it was dry in the first half and a lot of wind from all sorts of directions so there were some odd situations now and then when the ball went up in the air that were hard to judge.

"But I think, again, fantastic performance, fantastic support, 900 Motherwell fans coming here and supporting us."

Where next?

Both sides are in Premier Sports Cup duty next week. A tough draw for Stephen Robinson's side who host Hearts on Saturday (15:00 BST). Motherwell go to Perth to take on St Johnstone (15:00).