Motherwell boss Graham Alexander hailed Callum Hendry's St Johnstone winner as a 'wonder-strike' but says it came out of nowhere when his side were pushing for a winner.
But Alexander says that the chance of a top-six finish is still in their own hands. despite the 2-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park as Hendry's double cancelled out Kevin Van Veen's early opener.
Today's defeat leaves Motherwell eighth in the table, but they're still potentially three points off of fourth place.
With several clubs unable to secure fourth place, Alexander says Motherwell have to look to pre-split games against St Mirren and Livingston as a chance to grab it and end up in the top six.
Alexander said: "[It was a sore one] for everyone connected with our club. I thought it was a game where there only looked like one winner.
"We were really pushing for that winning goal, we hit the post and the keeper has made a good save.
"And they have scored from nothing really. It was a wonder strike. but there's things we could do to not let him have that opportunity.
"It's a sore one because even if it had finished 1-1 we would have been disappointed because I felt it was a game we could have won.
"You couldn't say St Johnstone were on top. We have lost a game where I felt we were in relative control. Certainly after taking the lead we should have gone into half-time with that lead."
On his side still having a chance to finish in the top six, Alexander said: "Amazingly so. That's what we have to focus on.
"I know everyone in our club is hurting at the minute, we are all frustrated and angry, but the opportunity is right there in front of us.
"No-one seems to want to take it at the moment, it keeps getting thrown around at clubs. We have had so many opportunities but it's still there for us.
"If we go into the next two games, or certainly the next one, with a positive attitude to go and grab it, then we could be looking at this as a tough time that we came through and eventually achieved our ambitions."
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