Dundee 2-2 Motherwell: Mark McGhee fumes over late penalty

Mark McGhee was enraged by the late penalty that cost his side victory

Furious Motherwell manager Mark McGhee insists referee John Beaton blundered badly when awarding Dundee the late penalty that led to their equaliser.

The sides drew 2-2, with Kane Hemmings levelling from the spot after Well's Chris Cadden had competed with Kevin Holt for possession.

Both players' feet seemed high but Beaton penalised Cadden, who had scored the Steelmen's opener.

"I feel absolutely aggrieved at the decision" McGhee told BBC Scotland.

The result leaves Motherwell ninth, just two points above second-bottom Kilmarnock - a source of real frustration for McGhee.

Dundee's second equaliser prevented McGhee's men moving to within a point of both the Dens Park side and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Chris Cadden (eighth from left) was penalised against Dundee

"These decisions are so important as we are in a dogfight to avoid the play-offs or worse, to avoid relegation," said the Fir Park manager.

"Every point counts and to be almost over the line after a heroic defensive performance in the second half, after getting our strategy right, I felt we deserved to win the game.

"The referee has made a terrible call really and that has cost us two points.

"Young Cadden scored a great goal early in the game and he shouldn't be embarrassed by what happened later on as there is no doubt it wasn't a penalty.

"He hasn't got to worry about that because the referee made a bad call and the I think the referee will realise that when he looks at it."

The draw did move Motherwell a point clear of Partick Thistle ahead of their meeting at Firhill on Tuesday night.

McGhee was pleased with his team's performance on Tayside but believes they still have a lot of hard work to do before they can pull clear of relegation trouble.

"We have taken one point from the last three games and that is relegation form as far as I'm concerned, certainly in terms of points return," he added.

"That's why we have to keep ourselves firmly anchored by looking at teams below us and make sure we get enough points.

"Every point counts, even the one today will count at the end toward safety, hopefully, and that is the only way we can think at the moment."