Motherwell boss insists he's always been on 'state of high alert'

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee admits he is on a "state of high alert" over their league position - but does not feel their trip to face Dundee United will be pivotal.

Motherwell slipped into the bottom two on Saturday following a 2-0 home defeat by Kilmarnock which McGhee dubbed the poorest performance of his reign, worse than their 6-0 loss at Hearts.

The Steelmen were on the cusp of the top six after a perfect December but have taken just two points from six Premiership games in 2016 to leave them facing another relegation battle.

"It doesn't feel like a blip because we have got to find our way out of it,"

McGhee said. "I've got to say that I have not really felt any differently all through it.

"When we had a run at Christmas and people were saying: 'Can you now start to look up the way?', I kept saying no and people thought I was being clever.

"But I wasn't, I was being honest. I felt we were still in danger and that has been borne true by results recently that have got us back in it.

"So now we have to dig ourselves out again. I have always been in that state of high alert and not got complacent at any stage. But if anybody was, now they have to get real."

McGhee has tried to restore his players' confidence after they struggled to create chances against Killie on Saturday, and his main hope is to see a far improved performance at Tannadice on Tuesday night where United are aiming to cut a 12-point deficit.

"We take very seriously our position and we know the responsibility we have to the supporters to make sure we get out of it," said the Scotland assistant manager, who was speaking at the announcement that the 2016 Homeless World Cup will be staged in Glasgow.

"We have worked very hard and prepared as best we can and what I have to do is convince them, regardless of what happened on Saturday, that we can go to Tannadice and win the game.

"I'm not sure, whether we win, lose or draw, it's going to decide anything. It's not. It's an opportunity for us to lift ourselves out of it but more important for me is the performance, because you can play really well and not win.

"But if we play really well at least we can go on to St Johnstone knowing that mentally we are okay and physically we are up for it. But if we go to Dundee United and play like we did on Saturday then obviously the alarm bells will be ringing."

McGhee has noticed a difference in his team following their December exploits.

"There's a certain drop in the energy levels,'' he said. "We have not half been able to train as much as we had done with the weather and having to train on astroturf.

"I think we have lost a wee bit of an edge that we had on teams because of how hard we were training and how intense the training was.

"But it's not an excuse, it's the way it is, but I definitely think we could be working harder in training if we had the right conditions and that would improve us."