Stuart Kettlewell insisted the thought of the sack did not cross his mind despite Motherwell requiring a last-gasp equaliser to claim a 1-1 cinch Premiership draw at home to St Johnstone.
The Steelmen looked set for another damaging defeat after Bevis Mugabi turned the ball into his own net following a goalkeeping error from Liam Kelly, though they would salvage a point when Mika Beireth brilliantly headed home in stoppage time.
Motherwell are now 13 games without a league win, a run that has seen them drop to 10th in the table – with only goal difference separating them and St Johnstone.
“I don’t think about it if I’m being honest, it’s not something that goes through my mind,” Kettlewell said.
“I probably just felt that we at least got our just rewards for what the game was and everything that happened in the game.
“When the emotion is the way it is and the run that you are on just now, it certainly doesn’t stop the fact it makes our group feel a lot better and the environment inside this stadium becomes better.
“It’s not what we wanted We didn’t want to come and just pick up a point, we were avidly going for three – but I just felt our confidence takes another dip when we concede that silly goal.”
Having levelled in injury time, Well have now struck late over the last three Saturdays to earn a dramatic point.
Kettlewell feels it is a good demonstration of the fighting qualities within his squad and that they are continuing to fight to address the slump that has seen them fail to record a victory since September.
“Everybody is always looking for a story to write and that somebody’s body language wasn’t right, somebody wasn’t running in the game, or you see someone being petulant in among such a bad run that we find ourselves on,” he added.
“I would challenge anybody to tell me that they have seen that today and again that is probably epitomised by that injury-time goal – we are trying exceptionally hard to get results and turn it around.
“I believe they’ve got my back and I sure as heck know I’ve got theirs as well. I think more often than not, that’s the formula to get you out of a sticky patch.”
Craig Levein admitted he thought his St Johnstone team had done enough to record a priceless victory at Fir Park.
The former Hearts boss has made an excellent start to life at Saints, picking up 11 points from six matches, though they slipped into the relegation play-off spot after Saturday’s draw.
“Stuart’s team have done quite well late on in matches and we had spoken about that,” Levein said.
“I thought we had defended really well the whole game and for once I was sitting there relatively confident we could see it out – little do I know.
“I don’t know yet (if it was a good point), I’ll wake up during the night and think about that.”
Levein felt that failing to capitalise on a strong spell following their opener eventually proved to be costly for Saints.
Chris Kane missed a glorious chance and Graham Carey’s free-kick cannoned off the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.
“We played well in that period of the game and then Graham has hit a brilliant free-kick, an inch or two lower and that’s in as well,” he added.
“I think we needed to get to two but I’ve got to give credit to Motherwell for knuckling down and getting themselves back into the game.”
Arsenal's improved form after Odegaard's return 'not a coincidence', says Arteta
Mikel Arteta insisted it was "not a coincidence" that Martin Odegaard's presence led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in one of their best performances of the season.
Arsenal's win was their 2,000th in English top-flight history, making them just the second side to reach this milestone after Liverpool (2,068).
Odegaard had been sidelined through injury since September with an ankle injury sustained while on international duty with Norway.
He returned to the starting line-up last time out against Chelsea and now has two assists from two since his return after setting up Bukayo Saka for the opener against Forest.
Arsenal ran out comfortable winners after Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri extended their lead and Arteta is confident the influence of his captain helped.
"It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when [Odegaard] is playing," he told BBC MOTD.
"I think we started really well. The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.
"It was good to see the impact of the substitutes [Thomas Partey - goal; Ethan Nwaneri - goal; Raheem Sterling - assist]. Everyone has to feel important. It was a good afternoon."
Partey grabbed Arsenal's second just seven minutes after entering the pitch, curling into the left corner from outside the box following Arteta's half-time swap for Jorginho.
Four of Partey's seven Premier League goals have come from outside the box. Of all Arsenal players to score more than five goals in the competition, he’s the only one to net more than half from outside the box.
Arteta had particular praise for fellow goalscorer Nwaneri, who, at 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas in August 2004 (17y 113d).
"He is the second youngest [Premier League goalscorer] in our history. That's a story in itself. He's brave. You see the reaction of fans, and they were singing 'he's one of our own'," added the Arsenal boss.
"I think we have to put brick by brick and make sure the cement doesn't get dry. Hopefully, we can build a beautiful thing with him."
Arsenal outplayed their opponents, leading them on expected goals (xG) with a total of 1.4 compared to Forest's 0.4 xG.
"On a day like this, you need to be solid defensively and take your chances. Ultimately it was not good enough, and it was three relatively easy goals for them," James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.
"We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."
Hurzeler delighted by Brighton 'togetherness' in battling win
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was in fighting mode at full-time as he praised the Seagulls' "togetherness" in their 2-1 win away at Bournemouth.
Hurzeler's charges signed off for the international break with a 2-1 home victory over defending champions Manchester City, and they mirrored the scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday thanks to Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma.
Despite his expansive and high-wire tactical approach receiving plenty of praise so far this season, it was Brighton's mental strength that caught the eye late on, after being reduced to ten players in the 59th minute through Carlos Baleba's red card.
It set up a nervy finale for the visitors, which included a 93rd-minute consolation goal from David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo smacking the bar, but the grit to get the result over the line pleased the Brighton manager.
"We have to see the performance from different viewpoints," he told Sky Sports.
"From one side of things, it was not the best football game from ourselves, but it was a good game to prove our togetherness, to show we can suffer together and defend together - that's why I'm proud of my team.
"The other side is that we can play better football. In some moments, we were lucky, in some moments, Bournemouth were better. Of course, the red card changes the game for me. That's why I am proud. We can play better football.
"We also had really good moments, we tried to play our from the back even when the pressure was really high. That's why I was pleased with some moments, but not with the whole game."
Hurzeler was also left frustrated by Stuart Attwell's decision to dismiss Baleba for a second yellow card with the visitors 2-0 in front.
"It's a clear thing. It can't be a yellow card the second one, never ever," he added. "Hopefully the referee will look at this and make a decision, and they take back the yellow card, because honestly, that's never a yellow card."
Victory moves Brighton up to fifth in the Premier League table - their highest position since mid-October - with struggling Southampton next up for Hurzeler's side.
Sunderland go top of Championship despite late draw with Millwall
Sunderland leapfrogged Sheffield United back to the top of the Championship table after their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.
Aaron Connelly had given Sunderland the lead just 10 minutes in, benefitting from a clearance to beat Lukas Jensen on the volley and claiming his first goal for the club before the players were taken off the field for half an hour due to two medical emergencies in the crowd.
Millwall were a different side when they came back out onto the pitch, with Anthony Patterson having to pull off a string of fine saves to preserve Sunderland's lead.
The hosts eventually got a deserved goal in the 93rd minute though, as Femi Azeez stabbed home Aidomo Emakhi's cross for his first Millwall goal.
It is a fourth consecutive draw for Sunderland, who sit above Sheffield United on goal difference, while Millwall stay eighth.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough moved back into the playoff places with a thumping 6-2 victory over Oxford United.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Latte Lath, a double from Finn Azaz and another from substitute Tommy Conway saw Boro score six goals in an away league game for the first time in 64 years.
Greg Leigh had given the hosts a surprise lead, and though Dane Scarlett halved the deficit with his second-half goal to make it 4-2, they could not mount a comeback, leaving them 18th in the table, while Middlesbrough jumped up to fifth.
Meanwhile, Luton Town eased some of the pressure on manager Rob Edwards with their 1-0 win over struggling Hull City to move out of the drop zone.
Mark McGuiness scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute, brilliantly volleying his maiden Hatters goal in to help Luton move up to 16th.
Hull could not find a winner, despite Joao Pedro hitting the post in the first half, and they dropped into the relegation zone as their winless run extended to eight matches.
Norwich City are on a run of seven games without a win after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with West Brom.
Emiliano Marcondes and an own goal from Torbjorn Heggem gave Norwich the lead after Mason Holgate's early opener, but Josh Maja's 10th goal of the campaign cancelled out their lead just before half-time to earn them a point.
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