Gannon praises Motherwell display

Jim Gannon was unhappy with the referee's performance

Motherwell manager Jim Gannon praised his players despite their 3-1 Europa League defeat by Steaua Bucharest.

Ross Forbes gave Well the lead before the Romanians hit back in the second half to seal a 6-1 aggregate victory.

"We went about our business well in the first half. There were moments when the referee could've given us a penalty but he didn't," Gannon told BBC Scotland.

"For 70 minutes we were the better team and that's what I wanted. We should have gone in at half-time 2-0 up."

Gannon said he was pleased with the way his players approached the game, adding that he felt whoever scored the second goal at the Excelsior Stadium would prove "critical".

"I said to my boys 'if we get the second goal, you'll see the emotion around the ground drive you on'.

"If they got it, I was fearful it would dampen the occasion."

Gannon said referee Carlos Clos Gomez had a poor game, but the Motherwell boss praised the Romanians for their second half display.

"If we'd shown the same conviction as we did for 70 minutes then perhaps we'd have gone on and got the draw or some sort of win," he added.

Steaua coach Cristiano Bergodi was disappointed with the performance of his players overall, but satisfied with the result.

He said: "I am very happy with the win, it was good for morale for the team. We had some problems in the first half, we risked too much and allowed Motherwell to attack and score.

"I said to the players at half-time that they weren't very good, there was a problem with the attitude and we were a little bit shy.

"In the second half we were better. Even though the game wasn't very good tonight, the players were pragmatic and scored three goals."