Motherwell boss Graham Alexander praises his side's never-say-die attitude after bouncing back from being 2-0 down to Queen of the South

Kaiyne Woolery celebrating scoring Motherwell's third goal against Queen of the South (Picture by Ian McFadyen)

Almost 2,000 fans were at Fir Park to see second-half goals from Tony Watt, Ricki Lamie and Kaiyne Woolery turn the game round after the Steelmen had fallen behind to a quickfire double from Ruari Paton.

“It was befitting of the performance because I thought the players deserved to win,” the 49-year-old told the club’s website

“I thought we were the dominant team in the first half, apart from two lapses in concentration that let them score two goals.

Motherwell’s Steven Lawless and Kevin Van Veen challenging for the ball on Saturday

“Apart from that, we just needed to up the tempo a little bit in our pressing and our passing.

“I thought the first half became a little bit too easy for us in possession. We got too relaxed and let our guard down defensively, so that was a sharp lesson for us, but I thought we were the better team, then in the second half we made our dominance pay with three goals to win the game.

“I was delighted because I thought the players deserved to win the game.

“It was great with the supporters being in. I think we sort of took them through the Motherwell rollercoaster for their first game back, so it was great.

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander applauding at the end of the game

“Coming out of the tunnel, it seemed like there were 10,000 here with the noise, so we’re delighted to make them all go home happy because it was a big day for us as a club and for every individual connected with the club, so I’m pleased we’ve all got smiles on or faces tonight.

“We talk about it a lot, the mental resilience you need over the course of a season. I don’t think any team goes through a season when it all goes their way, when everything comes off for you.

“You’re going to get challenged in many different ways and mainly it’s going to be mental, and we just challenged the players at half-time – ‘can you show each other and the supporters what we’re about as a team’ – and I think they did that. It was a great response, a brilliant response.

“I thought everyone just turned up the dial a little bit to really get back in the game and we deserved the three points, but we’re going to have more challenges throughout the season and we have to show that mental resilience and never give up. We can’t ever let that happen to us as a team and I think we showed that today