Motherwell captain Paul McGinn gave his verdict over Celtic victory against Motherwell (3-2)

Paul McGinn believes that Motherwell’s disappointment after a narrow 3-2 loss at Celtic Park shows just how strong their performances have been lately — and says no team will be eager to face them right now.

The Steelmen showed real resilience after falling behind to Kelechi Iheanacho’s 27th-minute penalty, with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos equalising before half-time and then putting them ahead from the spot early in the second half.

Celtic, however, hit back through Benjamin Nygren before Daizen Maeda’s stoppage-time header cruelly denied Motherwell a point.

Despite the defeat, McGinn feels his side earned plenty of respect for the way they competed with the champions, giving them a tougher game than most.
Speaking after making his 100th appearance for the club, the skipper said:

“It says a lot that we’re leaving Celtic Park feeling disappointed not to have taken something. We made it really difficult for them — with a bit of luck, things could’ve gone our way. But we’ll keep pushing, and our time will come.”

He added:

“People know we’re not an easy team to play against — maybe we never were, but it’s even more true now. Hopefully, we can start turning those strong performances into heavier wins.

A draw probably would’ve been fair, but that’s Celtic — if you give them a chance, they’ll punish you. I’m proud of how we play. If we’d just gone long and defensive, they’d have rolled over us. I like our approach and wouldn’t change it.”

Reflecting on his return to the starting lineup, McGinn said:

“It was straight back into the deep end, but I prefer it that way. With Stephen Welsh out, it made sense for me to come in. Reaching 100 games is a nice milestone — we’ve got a few experienced heads like Callum Slattery and Stephen O’Donnell, which helps. It’s always frustrating to be out when the team’s struggling, but they’ve been playing well.”

Looking ahead, McGinn says the international break will give Motherwell a chance to recover key players ahead of their Premier Sports Cup semi-final clash with St Mirren on November 1.

“You saw from our bench that we were missing a few — if we’d had lads like Callum Slattery, Callum Hendry, or Tom Sparrow available, they could’ve made a difference. Hopefully we get them back after the break. Then everyone will be fighting for a spot in the semi-final — that’s the goal.”