Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.
A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.
Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership table and extends their losing run to five matches.
The arrival of a permanent successor to Stuart Kettlewell, who stepped down at the end of January, will be a welcome one when announced, but Frail knows there is much to work on at the club.
“We’re hoping a new manager will be appointed early next week – the players need that bit of clarity and a new voice,” Frail said.
“He’s going to inherit a group of boys that are talented, devoid of a bit of confidence, but hopefully he can try and galvanise them for what will be a difficult game next week at Tannadice.
“Today wasn’t good enough, it was far from good enough.
“You hear the boos from the stand and, to be fair, I’d have booed the players and everyone involved at the club for a performance like that.”
Ross County boss Don Cowie was full of praise for his players as they continued their fine away form to move out of the relegation play-off spot.
Cowie’s side have now won four of their last five matches on the road, a marked contrast from the run that saw them go over a year without a league victory away from the Global Energy Stadium.
“I thought it was a really good team performance, it’s just a follow on from a really good run that we’re on away from home,” Cowie said.
“A lot was spoken about our away form, it was important that we changed that. What was also really important was that when we got our first victory, we built and added to it. I’m delighted.
“We’ve got seven games until the split. We’ve talked about how many points we can accumulate in that spell and we’ll just focus on ourselves.”
Northern Irish striker Hale took his goal tally for the season to 12, and having joined the club from Cliftonville in the summer, the 26-year-old has adapted well to life in full-time football.
Cowie said: “Ronan is a penalty-box striker. You have to create opportunities for him and when he gets them he’s very clinical.
“I thought he could have been better in terms of his performance within the game and he’d be the first to admit that, but I’m sure he’ll be delighted to have come away with two goals.
“It has been a really good return for him in terms of the transition he’s made from part-time football coming to our club. He’s had a big impact.”
