Jake Carroll hoping to stay in Motherwell side as the solution to centre-back injury crisis

Left-back Carroll – who has been kept out of the side in his preferred position by Nathan McGinley recently – slotted in beside Bevis Mugabi, and the pair were only undone by a clever set-piece that saw Tom Rogic score the only goal of the game.

The Irishman says that he felt at home at the heart of the backline, and hopes that his versatility may give him a chance of staying in Alexander’s starting XI.

“I loved playing at centre-half,” Carroll said. “It’s been a while but I feel comfortable in that position.

“It’s a good place to play, a good ground, and I enjoyed it. I felt good.

“Celtic had a lot of movement as they didn’t have a natural striker up there. They interchanged and moved about a lot, so you always had to be aware.

“They dropped in a lot. David Turnbull was looking to find space and you have to be brave enough to go with him.

“We had chances and the most disappointing thing is to concede from a set-piece in the last kick of the first half.

“That’s never a good time to lose a goal and it wasn’t a good way to lose a goal. That was a disappointment for us.

“I was just happy to play. Every player is frustrated when they are out the team but you have to take your chance when it comes and stay in there.”

Carroll is confident that the defeat at Celtic Park won’t derail Motherwell’s momentum as they look to maintain their position in the top half of the table.

“We are on a decent run and we have put bad results behind us well this season,” he said.

“We showed positive signs at Hibs last weekend and I felt we were good.

“It was the same at Celtic and it’s just disappointing to concede from a set-piece.

“Confidence is still high. Everything is positive and we always think that way.

“The game is gone now and we look to the next one.”