Robbie Neilson criticised his side's poor performance after Hearts lost 1-0 at Motherwell and missed out on the chance to close the gap on second-placed Aberdeen in the Premiership table.

A goal from Lionel Ainsworth was all that separated the sides at the final whistle but head coach Neilson was in no doubt that the hosts deserved the full three points.

"We were poor," he said. "It just wasn't good enough.

"We could have brought life into the game, but we just didn't do it. We need to come here and be better than that."

Hearts had put six past Motherwell the last time the sides met but it was Mark McGhee's side who were the more dangerous at Fir Park on Saturday. Trailing at half-time, Neilson said he had tried to inject some life into his side but was frustrated by their overall performance.

"We spoke after the game and at half-time as well, if you want to go and challenge for things then you have to perform all the time," he said. "You can't just wait for the game to come to you.

"We didn't deserve to get anything out the game. Motherwell were the better team, they had a better attacking threat than us, they worked harder than us.

"It wasn't acceptable for us. We brought a huge crowd down and we didn't do enough to excite them."