Manager Stephen Robinson admitted St Mirren initially showed Motherwell too much respect in the their 0-0 William Hill Premiership draw in Paisley.
The visitors dominated for long spells during the opening hour before Robinson adjusted his team and tactics to quell the threat.
Those changes saw Saints finish the stronger of the two sides and Robinson felt it could have been a different outcome if they had played with greater purpose from the first whistle.
He said: “I think we complicated the press a little bit against them, maybe gave too much respect to them and that’s my responsibility.
“We showed Motherwell way too much respect in the first half. We rectified that, but had we maybe done that right from the start perhaps we could have won the game. So that’s my fault.
“We didn’t play at our best today for 90 minutes, but we got better. I think the subs that came on improved us and made us a little bit more aggressive in our press, but we got a point.
“And if you can’t play at your maximum then you have to try and take a point so we’re pleased with that.”
His Motherwell counterpart Jens Berthel Askou was similarly satisfied at taking something on the back of an opening day home draw with Rangers.
Asked if the result felt like two points dropped, the Dane said: “No, we didn’t have any when we started the game so it’s another point.
“I think we did everything we could to get all three. We knew we needed a very, very solid defensive performance. We had to fight and cancel their direct players.
“I think we did that excellently. The two guys at the back, plus the players around them when the second ball dropped, were fantastic.
“Then the composure to play out when they tried to move forward a little bit was really, really good throughout the entire game.
“We had our moments. They also had a few, especially on set-pieces, when they brought some balls in the box.
“We knew that was going to be where we had to really be solid. With a little bit more quality we could have taken the three points.
“But having a clean sheet here is okay. Then we’ll go for three points next time.
“I won’t say I’m frustrated. That’s a big word to use.
“We are doing our best to get three points. We know we have things to improve. In general, I’m very happy with our performance again today.”
