Motherwell skipper Declan Gallagher is prepared to take his portion of the blame after the Steelmen went down against Ross County in their Premiership opener on Monday.
Well suffered a 1-0 defeat at Victoria Park, with defender Gallagher giving away the penalty from which Ross Stewart netted the winning goal after being penalised by referee Nick Walsh for a challenge on Harry Paton.
Although Scotland international Gallagher had a claim he won the ball, he insists he will not shirk his share of criticism for making the tackle in the first place.
Gallagher said: “The referee said it was a clumsy tackle from me and I went through the boy. I dived to the side of the boy and when he hit the shot he went through me.
“It is a split second reaction the referee has, so if he thinks it is a penalty that is football. I just have to hold my hands up and take the blame. Maybe I shouldn’t have dived in but I felt I got the first touch.
“We win and lose as a team. It isn’t the result we wanted but we will look at the positives and negatives and make sure we are ready for the weekend.”
Motherwell spurned a glorious opportunity to restore parity late in the game when Liam Donnelly struck wide from the penalty spot, however Gallagher refused to make the Northern Irishman the scapegoat.
Gallagher added: “When we missed the penalty I thought it might be one of those nights for us.
“Liam is Mr Reliable from the penalty spot usually as well. When you see him missing it is disappointing. He was a bit down in the dressing room after it which is understandable, He is a passionate player so he was gutted.
“He felt like he let the boys down but that’s not the case as everyone had their part to play.
“I gave away the penalty, we had a red card and missed penalty, but we are a team and we will stick together.”
Gallagher felt Well deserved more from the trip to Dingwall after recovering from a poor start, with the 29-year-old aiming to bounce back when his side host Dundee United on Saturday.
He added: “It is disappointing to lose the first game of the season. You want to start off well, but the first 20 minutes wasn’t us. After that I think we controlled most of the game and we had the better chances. I don’t even think they had a chance in the second half. We are still leaving with nothing.
“We were sluggish at the start and they dominated but after that we controlled it. With the chances we had we should have probably have left with all three points, but it happens and we move on.
“Ross County is a hard place to come and not many teams will find it easy. They are organised and make it tough for teams. We wanted to win but it is a long season and we will bounce back.”