Interim gaffer Robbo: my gutted players are on their knees after defeat

Aberdeen striker Niall McGinn broke Motherwell hearts with late winner (Pic by John Devlin)

“I think it’s a tough one to take,” said Robinson to pressmen just a few minutes after the Scottish Premiership defeat at Pittodrie.

“It’s disappointing. They’re on their knees in the changing room but they’ve got to deal with it.

“We matched them for 91, 92 minutes. Make no mistake, they’re a good side.

“You could see how frustrated they were, they changed their shape a couple of times.

“We came with a game plan to be hard to break down and try and hit them on the counter attack.

“I can’t really ask any more from the boys. They gave the club absolutely everything today, throwing their bodies on the line and defending when they needed to defend.

“Maybe one pass better at times we could have got through. We’ll move on.”

Robinson said that the difference between Aberdeen and Motherwell’s league positions – second instead of 10th – can be illustrated by the high calibre of Dons attackers Niall McGinn and Jonny Hayes.

“They change games in an instant,” Robinson said. “And Niall did that today.

“We have to accept the top top quality players that we’re playing against and I thought we coped brilliantly with it.

“We asked a young boy (Elliott Frear) to come on and do a job that was foreign to him due to Steven Hammell going off and we got punished for it.”

Robinson – a favourite with bookies to be given the managerial job permanently – will be interviewed on Monday.

He added: “There will be no questions asked of the players in terms of their attitude and desire from the people who travelled up here today.

“They will go home disappointed of course, a similar result to last time but a completely different performance.

“I want to steady the ship and put a platform down to make sure that we stay in this division this season.

“We showed we were organised. We came with a game plan and they really did stick to it.

“They have set the standards over the past two games and if the performances are as they were today then results will start to follow.”