Motherwell caretaker manager Stevie Frail hopes that the fighting display of the Fir Park players against Celtic will begin the process of re-establishing the connection between the squad and the fans following a tumultuous week in Lanarkshire.
Frail took temporary charge of the Steelmen as they eventually fell to a 3-1 defeat to the champions, following the resignation of Stuart Kettlewell as manager last Monday.
And when asked if the spirited display in defeat will have done a lot to bring the club back together, Frail said: "I hope so. I felt it at half-time, we were 2-1 down, really, really disappointed. But there was an energy in the dressing room. The players felt it and they felt that they were getting a lot of energy from the fans.
“What's happened this week has happened. And I did say it during the week, it feels as though the whole fan base has been tarred by this. And it's not. And it's done, it's dusted, and I think, hopefully, we did give some sort of connection back.
“That's down to the players, but it's also down to the fans appreciating the efforts they saw on the pitch this afternoon.
"I’m delighted with the effort, I thought it was terrific. Losing a goal so early in any game is tough, especially against a team with the quality of Celtic. I kind of feared the worst, I think it was 50 seconds or something.
“But they dug in, they battled, managed to get a goal back in the game. Caused them a couple of problems in the first half with the ball, not as much in the second half as we would have liked.
“But the actual work rate, desire and shape without the ball, I thought it was really good and something for us to build on.”
Frail isn’t yet sure what the next few days will hold as Motherwell CEO Brian Caldwell begins the task of finding Kettlewell’s permanent replacement.
"We were tasked just with the game, honestly,” he said.
“We're gutted we’ve no game next weekend in the Scottish Cup, but it might give the club a wee bit of time to take a breather, to get everything settled down. Hopefully get the right person in place.
“This is a fantastic football club. We've got great people at it and hopefully we can keep going in the right direction.
"I'm happy to do whatever the club need. It's far from a burden coming in here every morning. It's a pleasure to come in every morning, work with the people, the staff that I work with, not just the coaching side, everyone in the offices.
“It's a small club with a real family ethos to it and a group of players who, since Tuesday, having had to pick themselves up, have been terrific.
“So, until I'm told otherwise, I'll continue to give all I can for the club.”
