STEPHEN ROBINSON didn't need more insult adding to his injury.

The Motherwell manager, only a few minutes on from watching his side's agonising 2-1 defeat to Rangers, was trying to pick out the positives of an afternoon's work.

A solid Ben Heneghan goal, a rousing response in front of a bumper home crowd to a start on the backfoot offering the highlights.

Then, behind the throng of press men, his eyes caught the large television screen to his left, with pictures showing in slow motion the penalty shouts his team had waved away and the two late efforts that came back out off the post. Unlike his players, Robinson perhaps didn't time his run into the box very well.

“Oh God, it’s getting worse. Turn it off," said the Northern Irishman, a giggle masking his inner angst. “Nobody let anyone down. I think we are a lot stronger than last season but we need to get results.”

To be fair to him, he was right. In the opening 10 minutes Motherwell, a team many have picked to struggle this year, were 1-0 down to a rampant Rangers and could barely get a kick at the ball. The unbeaten run in the Betfred Cup seemed a long way off.

But as the game progressed the hosts turned the game into a contest and claimed a fine goal through Ben Heneghan. Louis Moult would also miss a glorious chance from close range, while in the second half substitutes Ryan Bowman and Alex Fisher would both watch on in horror as their efforts clipped the post before bouncing wide.

There was also a solid penalty claim in both halves for the Steelmen.

“I am frustrated. If you don’t take your chances you don’t win football matches and we created a lot of clear-cut chances," said Robinson. "Bowman and Fisher had two chances they would put away in their sleep. You will get punished by top teams.

“The difference between being a top six side and not is taking chances and we are well aware of that. The way we took the game to them was a massive plus but we are not happy with nearly doing things.

“We dominated large parts of the game. Once the lads settled in and got a bit of belief, we took the game to them. We potentially could have had a penalty themselves and we’ve lost goal from two set-plays.

The Motherwell manager refused to criticise referee Bobby Madden for the award of Rangers' game-winning penalty when Moult was adjudged to have elbowed Fabio Cardoso in the box. Moult and his Motherwell team-mates claimed their innocence but Robinson was more concerned at the opportunities missed than those given away.

He said: “I haven’t seen their penalty again. I was far away from it. Louis said it wasn’t a penalty, that he went to challenge for the ball and the lads’ gone down, but we should have taken care of the game ourselves – without blaming anyone else.

“The players told me Ryan Bowman (which should have been a penalty). The boys claimed Hodson handled the ball. We can’t change that. We created a lot of chances and we needed to take them."

Next up for Motherwell is a trip to Dingwall on Wednesday for a Betfred Cup last 16 clash with Ross County. Gael Bigirimana was missing yesterday from the Well midfield, but Robinson is hopeful he will be back in time.