Malpas said his players got what they deserved in the cup defeat

"We allowed too many crosses into the box and our ball into the box tonight was shocking," said Malpas.

"If it took us 70 minutes to get the ball into the box it tells you something about our performance.

"When you play a side from the lower leagues it's not about ability. It's about attitude and St Johnstone's was better than ours tonight."

Interview: Motherwell manager Maurice Malpas

"I would hope complacency was not a problem," Malpas added after the defeat.

"You could not say we were bright during the game - maybe the expectation (to win the game) was too high for some of our players."