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Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan admits being caught cold is no excuse for their shock defeat to Llanelli in the Europa League last week.

New boss Jim Gannon endured the worst possible start to his tenure when the Steelmen suffered a 1-0 reverse in the first leg at Fir Park on Thursday - just a few days after he had taken over the helm. Craigan believes the early start to the campaign at a time when the club has lost so many first-team players was a reason for the result but he knows Motherwell should have done better.

"I don't think anyone would use that excuse of this being our first game and us not being ready," he said. "But the difference between training fitness and match fitness is slightly different."

He added: "You can train all you want and try to replicate match situations as much as you want but it's amazing what comes into competitive football."

Craigan is already noticing some differences between Gannon and former boss Mark McGhee after just a few training sessions.

He said: "It's the style of play, I think that's the difference.

"There were certain things that Mark wanted us to do as a team and how he wanted us to play and suddenly the new manager comes in and says, 'I don't want you to do that any more - this is how I think we can get success, this is how I've had success in the past and what I want from players.'

"There are little subtle changes that he is trying to instil which on the Monday we didn't do but by the Wednesday we were starting to see things progressing."

PA Sport