LOUIS MOULT concedes Motherwell now face the reality of having to win their next two games to halt their season slipping into early turmoil.

Their fourth defeat in a row was handed out by St Johnstone in Perth on Saturday, despite Well taking an early lead as Moult grabbed his first goal for the club.

Two second-half strikes from Steven MacLean did the damage that keeps Ian Baraclough’s team sitting on three points after five matches and hovering just one point above Ladbrokes Premiership bottom-markers Kilmarnock.

The Rugby Park side are Motherwell’s next league opponents when they visit Fir Park on Saturday following tomorrow night’s League Cup trip to League Two minnows East Fife.

Already concern over their league form is starting to build, and Moult knows only too well what must be taken from the next two games to stop that negative momentum.

He said: “We definitely need to get three points. We know that.

"We need to get it next Saturday. That’s the be all and end all. We’ve also got to win on Tuesday.

“It’s been up and down. We started really well at Inverness away and we’ve gone on a bit of dip.

"But I am confident that we can get back to the form we showed at Caley Thistle.”

There was a silver lining in the weekend’s 2-1 reverse in the form of Moult scoring for the first time in Well colours.

He arguably should have had a second just moments later when he took advantage of a Brian Easton blunder to race clear on goal, but he was left cursing himself and goalkeeper Alan Mannus who managed to block his shot.

“We should have been further ahead than we were at half time – and I was guilty for that,” conceded the striker. “I’ve got to score with the one-on-one. I hold my hands up.

“We created some good chances and we should have been at least 2-0 up. It’s still going through my mind and it will do so for at least the next couple of days. I’ve got to score. But I will make sure I score my next one. We need to make our chances count.

“It was good to get off the mark but it doesn’t mean much. I’d rather not score and the team got three points. I always back myself to score and I should have got a second.”

Despite that miss, Moult is still encouraged by what he has seen so far from himself, in particular the partnership he has struck up with Scott McDonald.

In the last two games the Aussie has been pushed further forward to assist his team-mate, and Moult said: “I feel I’ve got a good understanding with Scott McDonald and we are linking up really well.

“That’s really important when you play two up top. We read each other’s game well and there’s a lot of positives.

“I just want to score as many goals as I can. But as long as I’m playing and working hard and doing my best for the team, goals are a bonus. I’m confident I will score goals. I know I will score goals and I’m off the mark now.

“My family are up in Scotland now as well and they are helping me settle down.”