A double from unlikely goal hero Tom Aldred gave Motherwell a precious win over Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton, the Fir Park side coming from behind after Dougie Imrie’s opener to further detach Accies towards the bottom of the Premiership.

Here are five talking points from a ding-dong New Year Lanarkshire derby.

IT MAY NOW BE A THREE-WAY RELEGATION BATTLE

This win for Motherwell opens up a seven-point gap to Hamilton, with only St Mirren and Dundee below Martin Canning’s men. Neither manager was for admitting that Motherwell were out of the woods yet, but it was the Hamilton boss who seemed readier to concede that avoiding the play-off spot or automatic relegation was now the best that his side could hope for.

They go into the winter break with a two-point advantage over St Mirren and four points clear of bottom side Dundee, but with no wins in their last six, they cannot rely on the teams below them continuing to be so poor.

HAMILTON LACK QUALITY, AND MUST STRENGTHEN IN THE JANUARY WINDOW

Reinforcements are critical for Hamilton. More than a few under-performers will head out of the club, but major overhauls during January are notoriously hit and miss when it comes to their success rate.

Martin Canning has little choice though, because the lack of quality in the Hamilton side to hurt their opposition was plain for all to see.

Their goal here was simple, a ball over the top catching Motherwell napping, and with no one tracking the run of Imrie from midfield, he had all the time in the world to score.

But that was as good as it got for Accies, and the visitors were then rarely troubled by a Hamilton team that struggled to build the play, retain possession, or come anywhere near Mark Gillespie again.

They have to find someone who can spark their attack in the same way that David Templeton did last season, but that will be no mean feat.

AND MOTHERWELL MUST STRENGTHEN TOO

In the unlikely event that anyone at Fir Park is resting on their laurels now that they are in something of a mid-table no-man’s land, they had better snap out of it.

The depth of their squad was tested to the limit on Saturday with 11 first-team players missing out, and they then lost Richard Tait and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair to knocks in the course of the afternoon.

They had enough in reserve to be the better of the sides on Saturday, but given that the match was Andy Rose’s last before he heads off to the MLS and with Ryan Bowman already on his way out too, Motherwell will have to get bodies in the door if they are to look to catch the pack above them.

WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING, IT CAN SEEM AS IF THE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU

The correct result was arrived at by the end of this contest, but the way it came about left a sour taste in Hamilton mouths.

Mickel Miller felt he was fouled by Liam Grimshaw before being penalised for the free-kick that David Turnbull swung into the box for his teammates to attack.

Then, as Gary Woods came out to contest the cross, he was adamant that Peter Hartley had impeded his attempt to gather the ball. It fell loose for Aldred to hook home his second of the game and decide the match in Motherwell’s favour.

The decision could have gone either way. There didn’t appear to be a great deal in it, and when Martin Canning watches the incident back, he may well feel that his keeper should have been stronger.

PLAY ELLIOTT FREAR AS A WINGER AND HE CAN HURT TEAMS

The biggest beneficiary of Aaron McGowan picking up an injury as he attempted to haul Frear to the deck was the Hamilton defender himself, because it gave him some sweet relief from the torrid afternoon he was having against the winger.

Frear hasn’t always impressed in a Motherwell jersey as he has struggled with the wing-back role he is often asked to play. But here, with a full-back behind him, he was a real livewire and the outstanding player on the park.

Full of direct running, quick feet and inventive wing-play that had a series of Hamilton players tied in knots as they searched for a solution to stop him, he will hope that this can mar a renaissance in a Fir Park career that looked to be fizzling out.