Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson hailed his players for securing a “massive point” as they ended their four-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw against Livingston in the Ladbrokes Premiership

The Lanarkshire side have only taken five points from a possible 24 so far this season, but looked like recording a first home win when Ryan Bowman struck midway through the first half.

Keaghan Jacobs’ spectacular free-kick levelled matters later on as the league’s surprise package notched another welcome point.

The hosts also had Carl McHugh sent off with 12 minutes to go after picking up two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes, in a result that leaves Robinson’s men sitting anxiously above the relegation trapdoor.

With matches coming up against the teams in and around them, the Northern Irishman knows how important a result it may prove to be.

“It was vital to get a point,” he said. “When you’ve lost four games like we have and things go against you, it can be easy to fall apart. I’ve got to give credit to the resilience and the character of the team.

“I’m well aware that we need to be better on the ball and have more quality in the final third of the pitch. But we stuck with it today and managed to get a point.

“Confidence is everything in football. You can see certain individuals aren’t playing as well as this time last year and that comes with results. The only way to get results is to be brave on the ball and keep battling through it. That’s a massive point for us.”

Robinson felt that McHugh’s second booking was “extremely harsh”. When asked if he’d spoken to referee Willie Collum about the incident, he replied “What’s the point?”

Livingston boss Gary Holt also praised his side’s character as they extended their unbeaten league run to seven matches.

Only champions Celtic have  beaten the back-to-back promotion winners in the Premiership this season. Holt was not in charge that day, and is still to taste defeat since coming in at the end of August.

“The good thing for me is that they’re sitting in there disappointed,” he said of his players. “They’re annoyed that they only got a point. That shows how far they’ve come.

“Teams like Motherwell don’t make it easy for you so to come from behind and scrap to get a point is great. They deserve real credit.

“The goal is a one-in-a-hundred stroke, 99 times it flies into row Z, and that one time today it went in the top bin. It takes courage to go and hit a shot like that when you’re trailing away from home, knowing that there’s a fair chance it’s gonna go in row Z.”