Motherwell boss: We'll give ourselves a pat on the back - not many others will

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Motherwell boss Graham Alexander says he and his players can give themselves a pat on the back for Euro qualification this season - because not many others will.Alexander rounded on his critics and reckons he and his team haven't been given the credit they deserve for achieving a fourth or fifth-placed Premiership finish.The Fir Park gaffer is well aware that they've only won three league games in 2022, but says that shouldn't overshadow their efforts in the first part of the season.As Motherwell prepare for a trip to Celtic Park tomorrow, Alexander says several people have forgotten that a campaign is played over a season and not for four or five months, and reckons the Steelmen should be praised for their achievements.Motherwell beat Hearts 2-1 on Wednesday night to guarantee a European place with a game to spare, and when asked if it was a good feeling, having been struggling throughout February and March, Alexander said: "It does make it sweeter, I'm not going to lie."It was almost like our first 20 games of the season didn't exist, for some people.

Like somehow we won a golden ticket to get in the top six."I thought it was over the course of a season, which is over 2021/22, not just 22.

I think we won enough games and scored enough goals and got the points that we needed, to earn our place in the top six."It did seem as if the first 20 games did not ever happen, and didn't exist, for some reason.

I think it was wrong."We understood that the run of form we were on wasn't great, but at the split you are where you are because you deserve to be."When I was not talking about the league table when we were fourth, and flying [earlier this season], it was for the reason of 'let's see where we are at the end of the season'