Boss Gives His Heroes Pass Mark

Jan 13 2008 By Mark Guidi

MARK McGHEE last night praised his players for not ditching their passing game as they fought back to earn a 2-2 draw against Hearts.

The Motherwell boss likened his side to Manchester United and Arsenal for the way they played in yesterday's Scottish Cup tie.

McGhee said: "I asked for a good game of football, a proper cup tie and a tribute to Phil O'Donnell. I think we got that.

"We were 2-0 down but I never thought we were out of it. I turned to Scott Leitch and said there was still something in the game for us.

"We showed ability to get back to 2-2.We played good football and kept passing. It wasn't as if we got our goals by battering Hearts and punting the ball up the park.

"Manchester United and Arsenal show belief in what they do, they feel it is right.We are the same.

"It's great for me as coach because the players believe in what I'm trying to get them to do.

"For them to come back after trailing 2-0 shows they believe in themselves. That's so encouraging."

McGhee (right) also paid tribute to his squad for putting O'Donnell's death to one side to concentrate on the Cup.

He said: "It has been a tough couple of weeks, no doubt about that.

"But one thing this game provedwas this group of players are great mates and not just colleagues. They helped each other out on the pitch."

Hearts took the lead through Deividas Cesnauskis then Andrius Velicka added the second.

Velicka's goal came after ref Stuart Dougal stopped play to allow treatment for Christophe Berra who had been winded.

McGhee wasn't in favour of the ref's decision and said: "First of all, I was disappointed with our defending for their second goal. You can't blame the ref for our defending.

"But I don't think the game should have been stopped to allow treatment and I don't think it was a foul after that."

Motherwell had top performances from a few players and McGhee praised David Clarkson - O'Donnell's nephew - and Ross McCormack, a signing target for Middlesbrough.

He said: "It was a tough day for Clarkson. He tired towards the end and it was emotional for him.

"McCormack was terrific and we needed a big performance from himin the second half. There is interest in him from clubs but there has been no contact."

Hearts interim boss Stevie Frail was gutted at throwing away a two-goal lead and said: "It's so disappointing not be in the next round of the Cup after being ahead.

"We played well for 65 minutes but need to concentrate for the full 90.We did have a chance to make it 3-0 then Motherwell ran up the park and scored.

"However, I will try to be positive and there were tiny signs of progress out there. But I will try to fix the mistakes that cost us the goals.

"At least we are still in the cup but I would have preferred to be sitting here talking about how we are going to build on a good cup victory."

Frail moaned that Jambos need to be a bit luckier, saying: "We hit the bar then Lee Wallace was ready to head one in but the ball didn't drop for him quickly enough

"If things can go our way a little bit more we will have an even better chance of getting a good result.

"You need hard work, ability and a bit of luck to win games - and that's what I'm looking for from my players."

Hearts play Hibs at Tynecastle on Saturday in the Edinburgh derby and Frail stressed the importance of a home win to kickstart their season.

He said: "We must play well for 90 minutes. If we can play a full game the way we did for 65 minutes today we will cause problems for any side.

"Hibs have won their cup tie and have a new manager in Mixu Paatelainen so will be up for the derby. We lost to our city rivals earlier in the season.

We don't want to lose again while a win would kickstart our season."