Jonny Hayes |

Jonny Hayes was selected by BT Sport as their man of the match. After he collected his MOM champagne he spoke to RedTV and he was also the player put up to the media. He are some of his quotes:

“I thought it was a very good performance away from home.

“It makes it that little bit more enjoyable when you work hard as we had to do tonight and you get your rewards. It is a little bit more rewarding when you have worked your socks off and earnt it.

“I like coming down here.

“The pitch is now very good and we always bring a good support. For the last few seasons we have done well down here and have picked up a few wins. We were sitting in the hotel today praying that the game would go ahead. We are delighted now that it did.

“We were telling the new lads how difficult a place this was to come. We were trying to explain how good a club Motherwell are and how well they do down here. We know it would be a tough game but we were prepared.

“It was a decent enough game. It was end to end especially in the first half. Second half we sat in a bit and played like an away team. Tactically I thought we were spot on. We did not give much away. I thought we looked solid and looked back to our usual selves.

“At the other end, we could maybe have scored more. Niall’s set plays were superb and we maybe could have scored from them.

“All in all, a good days work.

“Niall has that little bit of quality. He has something extra. Something special. With his weaker foot, it in the final minute to find the side of net – it was a great composure. We are delighted to have him. As I touched on, his set play delivery was outstanding considering the conditions. It is always a bonus when you have Niall McGinn in the team.

“It is a good battle in the league. There are a lot of teams fighting to be as high up the table as they can. Hearts, Rangers, St Johnstone are also there, they are capable of taking points off anyone. We are all fighting for the European spots and to finish second. It will be interesting.  

“About six weeks ago, everyone was saying we were bang on to finish second. Then people were saying Hearts would finish second. Now everyone says Rangers are certain to finish second. Everyone goes through difficult spells. Things change. It is a very competitive league.  

“You take the praise when it comes your way so you also have to take the criticism.

“The pressure that is on you, that is part of the game.

“A lot of the pressure comes from the standards we have set and the demands we put on ourselves. Over the last couple of years, we have finished second and you want to improve. The way Celtic have started the season, it will be difficult to do that but we need to fight to be the best of the rest.

“The pressure in some ways is a positive thing because we want to keep on improving.

“I don’t think the performances have been too bad. Going back to the final, we know that was unacceptable. But after that we could have taken a point at Ibrox. We probably should have won the game at Ross County. In both games we had good spells.

“That is football, it does get you down at times. But you have to accept that sometimes things do not go your way. When you are out of luck you are out of luck.

“So we know the performances have still been good. I don’t think there was a corner to turn as the performances have been there. The results have just been unfortunate and at the end of the day you are judged on results. The last couple of weeks, from that point of view, have not been good enough so it was nice to come down here and pick up a win.

“It is nice to give the fans three points for Christmas.

“It would be great to get a little of run of wins ahead of the break. When you are on a good run your confidence grows and things seem to go for you. We take it one game at a time, we always do that. We concentrate on Hamilton on Tuesday.”