"We were terrible against Saints in cup but can still catch Hibs in league" says Motherwell midfielder Robbie Crawford

In an identical scenario to the advantage Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers hold over second-placed Celtic, ’Well trail the Hibees by 11 points but currently have two games in hand.

Midfielder Crawford, on loan from Livingston until January, said: “I definitely still think we can catch Hibs.

“We’re looking up the way. We need to try and get the wins on the board, and once the games in hand come, we’ll try and win them.”

If Motherwell are to move up the league table, they’ll need to consistently perform better than they did during Saturday’s 2-1 home Betfred Cup second-round defeat to St Johnstone.

“It was a terrible performance from us,” Crawford said.

“There’s no hiding from it. It wasn’t good enough.

“We’re out of the cup now. We wanted to go on a good cup run, so it’s disappointing.

“We worked all week on what we wanted to do and we didn’t do it, so it’s a case of not being good enough from us on the day.

“We didn’t play well and how we found ourselves 1-0 up I don’t know.

“When you go up 1-0, you just want to hold onto it, and they got two quick goals, which is obviously disappointing.

“Motherwell have made it to the final before, so the manager wanted us to go on a good cup run.

“We’re capable of it, but on the day, it just wasn’t good enough.

“I just don’t think enough boys played well bar a couple.

“We’ll need to pick ourselves up.

“We’ll work hard all week in training and try and get the win.”

Crawford reckons the lack of fans at grounds due to coronavirus restrictions hurt the hosts’ chances against St Johnstone, although he has relished his brief spell at the Steelmen since joining on September 18.

“Obviously, Motherwell get a good crowd so we want the fans back as quickly as we can but it’s just down to safety so we need to see what happens,” said the 26-year-old, formerly with Ayr United.

“I’ve enjoyed it since I came here, but the last two games personally I don’t think I’ve been good enough, I can do better.”