Motherwell midfielder Keith Lasley admits a halftime rant from gaffer Mark McGhee inspired their comeback in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Rangers.

The result has put Celtic in the boxseat to win the title this season and Lasley revealed: "There weren't any tea cups being flung about, but it was near enough. I think he was disappointed. We were all disappointed. We knew ourselves coming in at half-time that we had not performed. The manager and Leitchy (Scott Leitch, assistant manager) let us know that in no uncertain terms."

A half-time rant is the most basic weapon in the manager's armoury but McGhee seemed to be appealing to his players' self-belief and demanding that they should never settle for defeat in a match that meant nothing for Motherwell in terms of league position.

"I think it was about our own personal pride in our performance. We can play and in the second half we did that," said Lasley.

He admitted Motherwell lacked an edge in the first half. "It was always going to be difficult after the big high of last week," he said of qualification for the UEFA Cup. "It was about how we were going to react and it wasn't very good in the first half. We were not passing the ball, we were not getting close to Rangers. It was not a great performance. But after half-time we got a wee kick up the bum and it seemed to work."