LOUIS MOULT struggled to accentuate the positives in the depths both despair and the Ibrox main stand.

Standing at the back of the stadium's iconic tunnel, the Motherwell striker fumbled about as best he could to try and pick something constructive from what was an afternoon that had fallen apart disastrously at the death.

“We’re devastated and I’m sure the fans and the club are the same, but we’ll pick ourselves up," said a sombre Moult, who was struggling to convince himself let alone anyone else.

The nature of Motherwell's William Hill Scottish Cup exit understandably left the former Stoke City forward lost for words. He wasn't the only one.

After seeing a 1-0 lead wiped out with two Kenny Miller goals in the last few minutes of this encounter, manager Mark McGhee appeared a broken man when he eventually entered the Ibrox press room almost an hour after his team had gone down 2-1. The calamitous nature of Rangers' winner doing little to add to his mood, courtesy of a stray Stephen McManus pass which helped gift their hosts safe passage into the fifth round.

It was the same for Moult shortly after.

“A few of the boys were upset with the way it happened more than anything," he said.

“Having gone 1-0 up, I thought we looked comfortable for 10 minutes, but then they have scored two goals and we have to do better.

“If you look at the manner of the goals, they are soft.

“Also, we’ve had a chance after I scored and, had we taken that, it might have been a different story.

“We support all the boys. We’re a team, a squad and we stick together. No-one is putting any blame on Stephen.

“We’re gutted to lose any game and treat every match the same.

“We’re a passionate bunch and you can see that in the way that we play."

It should have been an afternoon savoured by Moult.

In the build up to the clash his manager had spoken about how his top goalscorer is potentially destined for great things south of the border, while reiterating his hopes of holding on to the 24-year-old beyond the transfer window.

Everything was going to plan in front of 30,000 in the ground and potentially millions watching on their televisions at home when he latched on to a Chris Cadden cross to bullet Motherwell into the lead on 74 minutes.

Instead of standing in the spotlight as the hero of the hour, he was left to contemplate what could have been in the shadows of that Ibrox tunnel.

“Is it as stunned as I’ve seen the manager? It’s up there. It was silent in our room for 20 minutes and I’ve never experienced that before," said Moult.

“The boys had heads in hands and the dressing room wasn’t a nice place to be. There were a number of people emotional, not just the gaffer.

“But that shows what it means to us."

Turning to his own situation, it's clear, taking Saturday out of the equation, that Moult is a man loving life at Motherwell.

The former Wrexham hitman grabbed 19 goals last season in claret and amber and this campaign his tally is already at 12 from just 19 games.

It remains to be seen how much longer he stays at Fir Park, but the man himself is grateful for the opportunity that he is still making the most of.

He said: “I’m happy playing my football and we’ll see what happens.

“I’ve always said you play your best football when you are happy and Motherwell have given me that chance.

“It’s all about playing and I’m enjoying it.

“Motherwell is a fantastic club and I love playing for them. You can see that in my passion, but we’ll see what happens."