Stephen Robinson impressed with Motherwell's show in win over Morton
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson praised his players for imposing themselves on Morton throughout their Betfred Cup clash after his side recorded a comprehensive 4-0 win at Fir Park.
Charles Dunne headed an early opener and Chris Cadden doubled the lead before Gary Harkins was sent off for the visitors. Motherwell were dominant in the second half and Richard Tait netted before Louis Moult came off the bench to convert a free-kick.
Robinson, whose side beat Queen's Park 5-1 in their Group F opener, said: ''The most pleasing aspect was our work-rate and our energy.
Believe me, Morton aren't a bad team but we made them look like they weren't as good as they usually are because we worked harder than them and were really aggressive.
And we didn't stop at 1-0 or 2-0, we kept doing that and that was the most pleasing thing.''
Morton boss Jim Duffy felt Harkins was harshly treated by referee Kevin Clancy despite a high challenge on Craig Tanner.
''I didn't think it was a red card,'' said Duffy, who was without injured centre-backs Thomas O'Ware, Ricki Lamie and Lee Kilday.
''The ball bounced up. How else are you going to win the ball? You have got to do that and unfortunately he makes contact with the player. It was a yellow card at best. Even in the modern day, I didn't think it was a red card. But at the start of the season, referees are a bit stricter.
We were 2-0 down and I'm not saying we would have won the game but we could have competed with 11 men. We couldn't really compete, they were too big, too strong, too physical, and all we were doing is damage limitation.'