THE brief was a simple one for Stephen Craigan after being thrust into the role as interim Motherwell manager following the sacking of Ian Baraclough.

In the wake of the club's humiliating League Cup exit at Morton four days earlier it was simply a case of win at all costs. Forget the performance, the result was all that mattered.

Club owner, Les Hutchison, who launched a scathing verbal attack on the players, and the equally critical Fir Park support demanded it.

As a man accustomed to appearing in front of the cameras during his role as a television pundit for BT Sport, the Northern Irishman handled the preliminaries with aplomb.

The question was whether he could cope with the demands of the technical area after being promoted from his role as Under 20s coach?

Well, during an instantly forgettable 90 minutes against a toiling Partick Thistle outfit, Craigan forged a pretty good case for himself landing the gig on a permanent basis. Whether he wants to be considered is another matter.

Thistle were the better team throughout, but it was Motherwell who displayed a stronger mental resolve.

The caretaker gaffer carried out his instructions to the letter and duly acknowledged afterwards, "it wasn't pretty and was never going to be pretty."

In the wake of the 2-1 victory the 38-year-old Ulsterman, who served Motherwell with distinction as a rugged central defender during his 14 seasons at the club, gave the impression of a man still wrestling with a major dilemma as to whether he should apply for the vacancy on a permanent basis.

Currently combining his coaching job with the youths alongside a punditry gig, it doesn't appear to be a straightforward decision even if Connor Ripley reckons his mind is already made up.

“From what I can see, he wants it,” said the Motherwell keeper. “It is now up to the people upstairs whether he gets the job. If he does then brilliant as we will just keep on going. He has come in and he wants it. I think that is brilliant.

“If he wants it then lets try and give him it. At the end of the day it is not up to us, it is the men up top. But, whoever comes in we are going to support them and back them. At the moment Crags is the man in charge so we will all be behind him.”

Craigan made five alterations from the team who performed so pitifully in Greenock four days earlier and the change in personnel reaped dividends after 22 minutes when Lionel Ainsworth, one of the quintet recalled to the starting line-up, waltzed through a static defence and drilled a powerful low shot across goal.

The little winger's effort did appear to be heading wide of its intended target only for Jags defender Frederic Frans to inexplicably turn the ball into his own net.

Midway through the second period, the home side doubled their advantage, with Ainsworth again the provider. His cross from the right was met by Scott McDonald, another of those restored to the side, who was afforded yards of space in the penalty box.

The Australian striker's initial header was blocked by Tomas Cerny, but he made no mistake second time around, cushioning the rebound over the unlucky goalkeeper to put the game beyond doubt.

To say the Thistle defending was of the schoolboy variety would be doing a great disservice to kids up and down the country.

Motherwell gleefully accepted the gifts with Ripley claiming the hard-fought win was the perfect riposte to Hutchison, who said certain players should "hang their heads in shame" following Baraclough's dismissal.

“He can say what he wants. He puts the money in,” said Ripley.

“We have to perform and we haven't performed. He is well within his rights to say those kind of things.

“We didn't take it personally. We took it on the chin and said: 'right, we don't want that again.' We want to push on and I think we have done that. After the cup defeat I think the fans deserved it.

“To be honest I don't care if it's pretty or not, just as long as we get three points. If it meant we were going to win every week I would settle for that.”

Jags manager Alan Archibald would have taken a dire display and a positive result, yet he was again left tearing his hair out in frustration.

Substitute David Amoo did grab a late consolation to end his side's barren run of five games without a goal, but Thistle remain rooted to the bottom of the table and still searching for that elusive first win of a trying campaign.