MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson is urging his players to heed the lessons from their chastening result against Stranraer when Queen of the South come calling at Fir Park this evening.

The Premiership outfit lost out to their League One opponents on penalties after a frustrating 1-1 draw, with Robinson admitting his side were fortunate to even escape with a single point.

Tonight’s visitors to Lanarkshire have won all three of their Betfred Cup games so far to top the section, and Robinson knows that a much-improved performance will be required if his men are to close the gap.

“It was a bit of a wake-up call,” Robinson said. “Pre-season has changed now because you don’t get the same amount of games to be ready to go so these are part of your build-up but you have to win them so it’s a Catch-22.

“I’m still trying to get Peter Hartley, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Liam Donnelly, Danny Johnson and Conor Sammon fit and you have to play them in these games so it’s a fine balancing act.

“But our decision making defensively against Stranraer was extremely rusty which is very unlike us. We still created lots of chances going forward and should have scored more and that’s the positive

“We will get a lot better and we’ve spoken to the boys and they know that.

“A big lesson for us on Saturday is that if you don’t do the simple things well then you get punished - at any level.

“We didn’t lose the game - we should have done - and that’s a positive.”