Motherwell manager Craig Brown admits his side did not perform well enough to merit all three points against St Mirren.

The Saints had the best chances of a close encounter, with Andy Dorman guilty of passing up two glorious second- half opportunities.

The stalemate extends the Fir Park side’s remarkable recent unbeaten league run under Brown to 11 games.

They are now within two points of fourth-placed Hibs and although the former Scotland boss was not overwhelmed by the performance of his team, he was pleased to add another point to their tally.

“We have been to St Johnstone and now St Mirren and if you had said to me beforehand that we’d take four points I would have been content with that,” Brown said.

“I think both are good home sides.

“We have got four points but I can’t be very enthusiastic about the way we played.

“Sometimes when you get a point like that you are embarrassed.

“People watch us and hear that we are playing quite well, which we have been, and then you see that first-half performance.”

Brown could have suffered his first league defeat since taking the Well hot seat in December if Dorman had converted either of his efforts and the Motherwell manager had plenty of praise for the battling Saints.

He said: “We are better than that performance, those that have seen us play will know we are better than what you saw against St Mirren.

“But, St Mirren are fighting for their lives.

“They are doing well, they are organised, they are competitive and they are going to get points.

“You see the difficulty that allegedly better teams than Motherwell have against them so you must give them credit.”