The winds of change blown through Fir Park over the last few days were still being felt yesterday, in more ways than one.

In the stands, the usually vocal Motherwell fan group the Well Bois staged a first half silent protest while displaying the banner ‘Heavy hands, empty stands’ in respect of their alleged treatment by stewards at Cappielow on Tuesday night. On the football front, the figure of Stephen Craigan frantically pointing, shouting and nervously pacing clutching a bottle of water in the home technical area could be seen in what was his first game in interim charge as a result of Ian Baraclough’s dismissal on Wednesday.

The team he selected in this 2-1 victory over Partick Thistle also had a different look about it from the one that has laboured under Baraclough in recent weeks. Five changes were made from the starting XI that infamously went down 3-2 against Greenock Morton in the League Cup on Tuesday night as the caretaker attempted to put his stamp on proceedings. The fact those who were tight-lipped over in the corner of the East Stand during the first half ended the game chanting his name, would suggest it was mission accomplished.

“My Saturday’s over the last three years have been more enjoyable than that,” joked Craigan, who refused to say if his CV will be the 58th submitted for the vacant post at Fir Park. “I can’t even remember what the game was like.

"If you told me for the next five years I would go through that every Saturday I think I would probably say 'not for me'. That's my instinct but tomorrow morning I will think 'that was quite good'."

Baraclough’s 4-5-1 system that had been used of late was ditched for a more conventional 4-4-2, and the three men who came off the bench on Tuesday night to lift Motherwell were central to the rejig. Louis Moult and Scott McDonald, who both scored against Morton, were deployed up front while Lionel Ainsworth, the man who notched an assist at Cappielow, was put out on the right flank.

Indeed, it was the winger’s creative spark which carved open the Partick defence on 22 minutes. Quick feet from Ainsworth helped him ghost by three players and stride into the box. His low shot whizzed in front of goal to the back post where it reached Frederic Frans. With time to hack the ball clear, the Belgian instead shanked it straight into the roof of his own net from a couple of yards out.

Ainsworth’s ingenuity was at the heart of any of Motherwell’s brightest moments in the second half as his relentless running across the park and into the Thistle box caused panic for the five players he left behind. The 27-year-old also showed his class for his team’s second on 69 minutes as his inch-perfect inswinging cross found the head of McDonald six yards out. The Australian’s effort was well saved by Tomas Cerny, but his side-footed rebound wasn’t.

This victory offered some indication that amid the chaos Motherwell still have the ability - when in the mood - to ensure that the troubles which darkened their door last season won't return. As for Thistle, the concern caused by previously sinking to bottom of the Premiership will only grow as a result of yesterday’s defeat, their fifth of a winless start to the campaign.

They did show brief flashes of a threat prior to David Amoo nipping in ahead of Connor Ripley to head home a minute after coming off the bench on 78 minutes, most notably when ex-Motherwell man Steven Lawless smacked the post from the edge of the box not long after his looping header was just tipped over. Kevin Nisbet would also crack the upright in the dying minutes with a fine strike.

But in a match where they defended two goals poorly and left it until they were two goals down before showing a reaction, there was little cheer among the 710 who travelled from Glasgow to watch their team.

“The lads showed character to push the game all the way but it wasn’t to be,” said Alan Archibald, the Thistle manager. “We had the chance to come here today and put pressure on Motherwell, close the gap and use the condition they were in after the other night to our advantage and we didn’t do that.”