Ayr United 4-0 Motherwell: Page pledges Motherwell will bounce back

Motherwell defender Jonathan Page has promised the club’s fans that they won’t be humiliated in their Champions League quest.

Scorers: Ayr United - Robertson (20), Moffat (28), Campbell (49), Sinclair (73)

They could face Anderlecht, Feyenoord or Dinamo Kiev when the draw for the third qualifying round is made on Friday, with the first leg only 15 days away.

Manager Stuart McCall fielded his strongest side against Ayr United at Somerset Park on Saturday and could barely believe his side’s ineptitude as they were routed 4-0 by the Second Division part-timers. “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game with so many individual errors,” said McCall.

Page added: “Obviously, that was disappointing but we’ve got to bounce back against Raith Rovers on Tuesday.

“I’m sure we’ll be sharper and fitter by the time we play in Europe. I suppose if you’re going to have a bad result then you might as well get it out of the way now rather than when the season starts.

“We made a lot of mistakes – myself included – and we need to work hard to make sure that we get them out of our system. The manager understands that it was only our first game of the season and that we will improve, although no-one is trying to cover up that this was a bad performance.”

Page has made just eight starts in four seasons at Fir Park and admits that he must establish himself during the coming campaign. “This is the last year of my contract so, like anyone else in that situation, it’s going to be a big season for me,” he said. “But because we have a fairly small squad now, this is maybe my chance to get into the team.”

Goals from Ross Robertson, Michael Moffat, Martyn Campbell and David Sinclair made new Ayr manager Mark Roberts’ first game in charge a memorable experience.

Ayr United: Semple, J Robertson, McCann, Campbell, Brownlie, Sinclair, Marenghi, McStay, Moffat, Shankland, R Robertson. Subs: Brown, D Winters, Crawford, Murdoch, Longridge, Kasubandi.

Motherwell: Randolph, Saunders, Hammell, Page, Ramsden, Lasley, Hateley, Law, Humphrey, Higdon, Murphy. Subs: Hollis, Murray, Francis-Angol, Devlin, Carswell, Hetherington, Watt, Daley, Ojamaa, Erwin.