Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden feels that his side would have gone on to beat St Johnstone on Saturday had referee Craig Thomson not incorrectly ordered off goalkeeper Trevor Carson.

The Steelmen were trailing by two goals to one at the time of the incident that led to the keeper’s red card, as Thomson made a huge call by judging Carson to have picked up the ball outside of his area.

Quite apart from the fact that replays showed the ball to have been on the line, it was difficult to fathom how Carson could have been preventing a goalscoring opportunity, with David Wotherspoon trying to make up ground on the ball, but with Motherwell defenders in close proximity.

The visitors ended the game with eight men as Carl McHugh and defender Charles Dunne were also sent packing by Thomson – Dunne for a supposed trip on Graham Cummins that looked questionable to say the least – but the last of those was incidental to the overall outcome for Cadden.

His belief is that the game changed the moment that Thomson decided to order off Carson, and that his actions denied ‘Well the chance to roar back for a comeback win.

“I had a good eye on the last one [Charles Dunne’s dismissal] and I don’t think it was a red card,” Cadden said. “I think he kicked the ground. But the game was over by then.

“Obviously it’s hard to try and win a game with only eight men on the park.

“I thought first half we were excellent. They backed off us. I think they were only in our box twice. They scored with their only two shots at goal.

“At 2-1 if anyone was going to go and win the game it would have been us. But the red card against Trevor is a big decision.”

Even down to 10 men, Cadden felt that the newly forged steel in the Fir Park changing room gave them a shot at turning the game around.

But when McHugh was dismissed for a second yellow card for a tackle on Brian Easton, perhaps the only ordering off that Motherwell won’t appeal despite feeling the decision was harsh, the game was gone.

“We showed our character in winning at Ross County,” said Cadden. “We did that down to 10 men and we were saying we could do it again.”

Cadden was keen to stress that he and his teammates were not looking to scapegoat the referee for their defeat, recognising that their own shortcomings also contributed to the result on the day.

A wastefulness in front of goal and a slackness in defence for St Johnstone’s opening two goals in particular, had at least as much to do with the reverse for Stephen Robinson’s men as Craig Thomson’s errant decision-making.

That was a fact acknowledged by Cadden, but he saw plenty in the game - and sees plenty in his teammates - to give him heart that this season can be a successful one for Motherwell.

“Goals change games and if the header from Andrew Rose had gone in before that the game would have been totally different,” he said.

“So, we will take the positives from it. Credit to the gaffer for bringing in great characters and everyone is together as you see at the goal celebrations. It’s a close-knit group of boys.

“There’s a good mix. They are vocal and in a good way. It’s constructive criticism.”