Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell has warned his stars that what they’ve achieved in the past counts for nothing if they lost games like at St Johnstone on Saturday.

The Steelmen bowed out of the Scottish Cup fourth round with a 1-0 defeat at St Johnstone, as Makenzie Kirk’s ninth-minute strike sent the Saints through to the last-16.

Motherwell are back at McDiarmid Park on league duty this weekend, and Kettlewell warns that he’s looking for much more from his players.

He said: “You have to do it on the pitch and do your job – that’s what has put us in a reasonable position in the league and what has taken us into the dying embers of the other cup.

“But if you don’t do that against any team, you will find it tough going, and that’s exactly how it was.

“I’ve said to the players that what you’ve done before and where you sit in the league doesn’t matter.

“It’s down to what you do today. Making excuses about us having nine players out that you’d make a case for them playing – none of that matters. It’s just excuses.

“How the supporters react is going to be down to the score, sometimes the performance.

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“That’s ultimately how it goes as a footballer.

“You either suck that up and realise that’s what it is, and you react positively to it, or you disappear into your shell – that’s not going to work out well for anyone.

Kettlewell added: “I work with an honest group of players, but at times for me those instincts and reactions can make your body language look poor.

“We find ourselves in a position where we’ve lost four goals in the last two games, we’ve had a new goalkeeper in for the last two games and he’s not saved a ball, so we have to take the responsibility for outfield players, as to how that becomes the scenario.

“We are 16 points clear of St Johnstone, but it didn’t look like that.

“You have to remind your players that there is a reason why we are in the top half of the table.

“But it’s always about today, and that starts to grow in Scottish football.

“There’s more scrutiny, more people want to have a voice, to tell you what you’re doing right, but mostly what you’re doing wrong.”