St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes felt his side proved they can handle the step up to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League despite twice losing a lead in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Motherwell.

Murray Davidson's deflected effort gave Saints a deserved lead but Shaun Hutchinson headed Well level and Ross Forbes netted a wonderful 25-yard strike after Graham Gartland had restored the home side's advantage on their return to the SPL after a seven-year absence.

"I thought for the neutral it was a fantastic game. Credit to my boys, if that's a marker, we did exceptionally well," said McInnes.

"It's disappointing not to get three points after going in front on a couple of occasions but the margin of error in the Premier League means we'll get punished.

"It was a fantastic strike from Forbes but we should be showing him on his right-hand side and we just weren't right at the set-piece.

"But I thought we carried the game to them, we settled early and created a lot of opportunities.

"If we had been more clinical we could have had the game won but credit to them, their changes made a difference. But we can take a lot of confidence from that."

Manager Jim Gannon paid tribute to 20-year-old midfielder Forbes, whose first campaign in the Motherwell first team continues to go from strength to strength as he took his tally to four goals.

"He showed that in the European games with some fantastic goals," Gannon said. "It was a wonder goal. I try to give the young players the platform to express themselves and he certainly did that."