Stephen Robinson hopes Louis Moult will stay at Motherwell
Louis Moult sealed a precious three points for Motherwell against 10-man Ross County - but boss Stephen Robinson admitted he fears his in-demand striker could still leave Fir Park before the end of the transfer window.
After a first half to forget for the Steelmen, Richard Tait broke the deadlock seven minutes after the restart before Moult tucked in the second from the spot after County defender Kenny Van Der Weg was shown a straight red card.
Englishman Moult has been the subject of a failed bid from Aberdeen and Robinson revealed yesterday that the former Wrexham man has told the club he will not sign a new deal at Fir Park, with his current contract expiring next summer.
''I can't dictate what other clubs do,'' Robinson said after the 2-0 win.
''We've got a value for Louis, and as far as I'm concerned nobody has met that value. If they do, the board have something to think about.
But for now, Louis is a Motherwell footballer, he's contracted for another year, and I'm going to use him the best I possibly can, and he'll be 100 per cent committed while he's here. I hope that's a long time.''
Motherwell had goalkeeper Russell Griffiths - who replaced the suspended Trevor Carson after his dismissal at St Johnstone last week - to thank in a first 45 minutes to forget. The former England U20 goalkeeper reacted well to deny substitute Christopher Routis and Michael Gardyne as Motherwell toiled.
The home side improved after the restart and were gifted the opening goal after County defender Andrew Davies sliced a clearance straight into his path of full-back Tait, who steered the ball past Scott Fox.
Another howler at the back saw Motherwell double their lead in the 74th minute, this time Moult running in-behind Van Der Weg only to be bundled over from behind by the big Dutchman. It was a simple decision for referee Alan Muir, who sent Van Der Weg for an early bath before Moult sent Fox the wrong way from the spot.
''We were lucky not to be behind at half-time,'' Robinson added. ''That's as poor a half of football I've seen since I came to this club.
I'm passionate and I didn't see enough passion out there in the first half. The second half we made changes and I thought we out-fought and eventually out-played them.''
County boss Jim McIntyre said: ''The first half is as good we've played for a long, long time. Some of our stuff was fantastic. We really dominated, but you need to take your opportunities.
I've spoken many times about the importance of the first goal at this level. We were a bit too wasteful and it really came back to bite us.''
McIntyre had no complaints with the penalty and Van Der Weg red card.
''It was the right decision,'' he said. ''The sending off made it a long 20 minutes for us. It was a very uncharacteristic mistake.''