Wouter Vrancken commended his Hearts players for refusing to take any of the excuses that were available to them at Fir Park.

Coming hot on the heels of tough losses to Celtic and Trabzonspor, the Belgian’s side arrived in North Lanarkshire on the back of a lengthy return trip from Turkey and with an ever-growing injury list.

But, having seen Claudio Braga and Calvin Miller strike to seal a two-goal win, Vrancken felt his depleted squad passed a huge test of character.

‘They’re a massive three points,’ said the Hearts boss. ‘Considering the circumstances with ourselves and also here with the wind, it was difficult to bring quality football all the time.

‘Then you had moments in the game where it becomes a battle and you have to win the battle and we did.

‘When coming back from the long travel, it’s scientifically not possible to recover in two days. But I don’t like excuses. We knew the run of games would be tough but they coped well.

‘Players were out of position but these players did everything they could. We fought together for the result and we have to keep doing it like this.’

Vrancken felt the spirit his side showed was exemplified by the moment of unity they enjoyed with their supporters at time up.

‘This is the base for everything,’ he added. ‘In team sport you have to be one. Everyone knows the difficult situation we were in.

‘If you don’t win today, it’s not positive any more. I was really happy to see this.

‘Some guys started who didn’t start for a while and they gave their best. I was happy for Sabah (Kerjota) because he gave an assist and these attacking players live by stats. They worked together for a result in a difficult moment.’

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson believes his side showed enough to suggest that they can quickly put an end to a dreadful run of results.

The Steelmen have now lost six straight league matches for the first time in 23 years. But the Swede felt there was enough in the display to turn the situation around – starting at Perth on Wednesday.

‘We do enough to get a result in many ways but, to close the circle and get the result, we need to convert in the offensive box and be even more solid in how we protect our box,’ he said.

‘We need to compete better in both boxes. We create more chances, have more touches in their box than they have in ours but they go away with the win which is very hard to accept.’

Asked if he was convinced that the elusive win was just around the corner, he added: ‘Absolutely. The way they fight for each other and train, there’s a lot of belief and effort.

‘It’s a young group that needs to understand to compete in both boxes. There are always other things to improve, but this is the biggest thing we can change right now and the players are working towards that.’