DUTV
STORY OF THE MATCH | MOTHERWELL (H)
31st October 2024
Livi boss Jim Leishman's assessment that his team really had to battle hard to leave Tannadice yesterday with a point tallied with Alex Smith's own view that United should have taken three points from the match.
"Over the piece I think we deserved to win. Although it was a very good game, and late in the match Livingston came into it, we had done most of the work in the game in terms of attacking. We created a lot of chances, we had a lot of efforts that just slipped by the post and I think on the day we just didn't get that vital break."
Alex Smith expressed his confidence that a continuation of the same approach will reap its rewards in games to come. "We've just got to keep working away and trying to play the game properly. If we play with the kind of spirit we showed today then the results will come. We've got to turn the draws into victories and once we do that we'll be OK."
Alex Smith felt it was a good all-round team performance but was happy to talk about the contribution of Stef McConalogue. "I thought McConalogue was excellent. He's very skillful, he's always a threat and as I said with a wee bit of luck he could have scored a couple of goals. His movement and work on the ball are very good."
On a difficult day for the playing and coaching staff, with so much media interest on off-the field matters at Tannadice, Alex Smith was pleased with the players' response. "We used it more as an inspiration rather than as something to affect them. The players reacted, and reacted in a very positive way. I thought that Jim Lauchlan and Danny Griffin were magnificent in the game and I just wish they all could have won a bonus."
"Over the piece I think we deserved to win. Although it was a very good game, and late in the match Livingston came into it, we had done most of the work in the game in terms of attacking. We created a lot of chances, we had a lot of efforts that just slipped by the post and I think on the day we just didn't get that vital break."
Alex Smith expressed his confidence that a continuation of the same approach will reap its rewards in games to come. "We've just got to keep working away and trying to play the game properly. If we play with the kind of spirit we showed today then the results will come. We've got to turn the draws into victories and once we do that we'll be OK."
Alex Smith felt it was a good all-round team performance but was happy to talk about the contribution of Stef McConalogue. "I thought McConalogue was excellent. He's very skillful, he's always a threat and as I said with a wee bit of luck he could have scored a couple of goals. His movement and work on the ball are very good."
On a difficult day for the playing and coaching staff, with so much media interest on off-the field matters at Tannadice, Alex Smith was pleased with the players' response. "We used it more as an inspiration rather than as something to affect them. The players reacted, and reacted in a very positive way. I thought that Jim Lauchlan and Danny Griffin were magnificent in the game and I just wish they all could have won a bonus."
