Attacking changes pay dividends for Mark McGhee

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee praised his three-pronged attack after his side beat Partick Thistle 3-1 at Fir Park.

McGhee moved winger Marvin Johnson up front alongside Louis Moult and the fit-again Scott McDonald, and his 4-3-3 formation bore fruit at Fir Park.

Moult netted either side of the break - the first a penalty and the second a smart finish from McDonald's reverse pass - and Johnson broke down the right, cut inside and drilled home a third.

Connor Ripley could not hold Callum Booth's swerving effort as the Jags got a lifeline in the 76th minute but Motherwell closed out their first home win in the premiership in 2016 to move up to eighth.

McGhee said: 'The starting point for the way we played was really about Marvin Johnson and feeling we were not getting the ball to him well enough and quick enough. The boy's attitude is unbelievable and he was getting battered, and I didn't feel he was getting a lot of protection from referees. So I felt I had to take him out the left-hand side but I wasn't going to put him in a wide area because I wanted to free him up a bit. So we went to the three.'

'When you play three players like that up front they have got to make it work. You can work in training but you can really only show them the defensive side of where we want them to drop back into, but in terms of the attacking side, they have got to make it work. The three of them were terrific and that was the key to it.'

Moult took his tally for the season to 16 after some gentle ribbing from his manager.

'I said to him at half-time, was he going to score a real goal? I told him I never used to count my penalties,' McGhee said.

'And he got his real goal in the second half. He was terrific. You see him at the end chasing, chasing and chasing defensively. That is the key, you have got to run further and harder than the opposition and they did, including him.'

Thistle were dogged in the first half but never offered a threat and fell behind in the 37th minute after Aidan Nesbitt inadvertently tripped Keith Lasley.

Jags boss Alan Archibald said: 'Motherwell were the better side and deserved their win. We didn't really get going. We looked a bit leggy. First half especially we were second to every ball in most departments. The goal came at a bad time as well. It was a wee bit unlucky, Aidan was tracking back and just clipped heels. If we had got in at 0-0 we had a chance in the game. We put Pogs (Mathias Pogba) on to try and get a response and be a handful up there and get boys round about him and it didn't really happen. The second goal took the wind out their sails a little bit. We made a positive change to try and get back into it and then we got a sucker punch.'

'We got a late goal and had a flutter but every goal is important. If it was 2-0 we were still in the game but when it goes to three it makes it that little bit harder.'