Robbo: It was brilliant that Hartley got us out of a jam with last gasp goal

Hartley had enraged Gers supporters pre-match by saying it was “fun to watch” then Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso weeping after having his nose broken during a clash with Well’s Ryan Bowman in last season’s Betfred Cup semi-final, a statement Hartley later apologised for.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Robinson said.

“I prefer he did that (scored) than say what he did.

“He’s apologised, he’s accepted he made a mistake.

“And that’s some way to do it. You do it on the pitch, not talking off it.”

Robinson thought Motherwell’s dominance against Rangers – particularly in the second half – meant that they deserved more than a draw against the high flying Ibrox side.

“I definitely think we deserved more,” Robinson said.

“To score three goals at home and not get all three points is disappointing.

“I don’t want to dwell on too many negatives but the goal that came from a throw-in and cross into the box, simple one to deal with, Lafferty scores.

“I’m really disappointed with that and then there was a breakaway from our corner (for the third goal).

“But other than that I think we were excellent.

“I thought we showed some really good quality as well. Everyone talks about our battling qualities and how physical we are but I thought we outplayed them at times as well.

“You don’t have 85 per cent possession in the last 30 minutes if you’re not outplaying a team.

“So thoroughly deserved and slightly disappointed we didn’t get all three points.”

Robbo also stressed he’s much happier with the depth of his squad this season compared to the last campaign.

“People are fighting for places,” he said.

“We’re in the quarter-finals of a cup (they play Hearts away in a Betfred quarter-final on September 26) and people told me there’s a crisis.

“You can see by that performance there’s no crisis and now we have to build on that performance. It was a big, big point for us.

“I’m disappointed by certain aspects of our defending but we’ll get better and if we show that fight and desire we have every chance of having a decent season.”

Sunday’s draw between the two clubs means that it remains almost 16 years and a total of 41 matches since Motherwell last defeated Rangers in a league game.

The Steelmen’s last success was a 1-0 Boxing Day win at Fir Park way back in 2002.