Jim Goodwin insists he was determined Dundee United would win by any means possible against Motherwell.
Terrors striker Sam Dalby scored the only goal of the game in the first half at Tannadice.
United had lost their previous four games and boss Goodwin admitted it was vitally important that his side returned to winning ways against the Steelmen.
Goodwin said: “We would like the performance to be better. We would like to have a bit more control of the possession in the second half. But ultimately, it’s about three points at this stage of the season.
“We’ve been on a bit of a difficult run of games prior to this afternoon, albeit playing against some difficult opposition. Today was about finding a way to win the game by any means possible.
“I thought we were very good in the first half and well worthy of the lead at half-time.
“But the second half became very scrappy, and it was very hard to get any flow in the game – soft free-kicks and it constantly being stopped.
“Motherwell put us under pressure in the dying moments and we stood up to everything really well.
“It’s a massive three points, especially when you look at the other results – St Mirren winning at Ibrox, Hibs beating Celtic.”
New Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer admitted it was tough making his dug-out debut after only a couple of training sessions with his players.
The German said: “I thought there were too many thoughts in the minds of the players.
“We were too deep, there was no composure in possession. Dundee United had more possession, so they got more confidence from that.
“We had two small chances on the counter-attack.
“We spoke about the need to improve at half-time, to have more courage in possession.
“It was better in the second-half, we created good chances and in my opinion perhaps we deserved a point.
“We only had two training sessions before the game so we tried to bring little things and little ideas into the team.
“I saw many positive things in the second-half we can work with. Not everything was perfect or good but there were things I could see from the team.
“We were aggressive, we won high balls, we played forward, we played with speed, we had crosses and this is how I want to see football.
“But we also have to be relaxed and calm.
“It needs time because I’m a new voice, there’s another language and it needs time to get a picture from me and it’s also important that I get a picture from the guys.”
