GRAHAM ALEXANDER insists there will be no sulking at Fir Park after Motherwell suffered a six goal hammering at the hands of Rangers.

The Steelmen are now without a win in their last five outings and only have one point – earned during the draw with St Mirren in midweek – to their credit since overcoming Ross County last month.

An early Bevis Mugabi strike gave Alexander’s side a shock lead against the champions but Rangers ran out as comprehensive winners at Fir Park to extend their lead at the top of the table.

A trip to Aberdeen is next up for Motherwell and Alexander knows they must learn their lessons if they are to start moving back up the Premiership standings.

Alexander said: “Sulking’s not something I do or my team does, I don’t believe in it. It doesn’t take you forward and we have to go forward.

"We have to learn from this and learn from moments in games where you see them out and keep your composure and discipline.

"There are things to take from this but also things that we know don’t usually happen. It’s a rare one, we have to make sure it’s rare.

"We have a lot of good players and have done some real good things this season. Up until yesterday we were in the top six.

"So we have to understand that we have done good things and we’re not going to let this be a cloud over our heads for the rest of the season.

“Certain moments in games have cost us. The last game before this one was a perfect case in point, which everyone saw.

"We have to understand what we did in those other games before this run. But we also have to understand the level of opposition we have played in this little run as well.

"The league is extremely tight, there is a lot of quality from top to bottom. But we have quality within our ranks so we have to understand and believe in that, and we will.”

Motherwell could dare to dream of a famous win when Mugabi fired home from a tight angle to pile the pressure on Rangers.

But the game was turned on its head before the break as James Tavernier produced a moment of magic from a Calvin Bassey cross and then turned provider for Fashion Sakala to get off and running on a memorable afternoon for the Zambian.

Alexander said: "The first one is a world class finish. He scored from an angle where we have to hold our hands up and say sometimes there is just pure quality.

"I think it was an overhit cross, to be honest. But you can't take anything away from the finish.

"The second goal is one we have to deal with better. Coming so close to the end of the half was disappointing.

"We just had to try and focus the minds after that and think about how well we played for 42 minutes and go out and repeat that. But unfortunately we never managed to do that."

Motherwell saw their chances of a second half comeback ended when captain Stephen O’Donnell was sent off for picking up two bookings.

And Rangers would then compound their misery as Sakala completed his hat-trick and Glen Kamara and Kemar Roofe also found the target in the closing stages.

Alexander said: "I've not spoken with Stephen. He was quiet afterwards, as everyone was on the changing room.

"But I don't think now was the time for talking. We need to let our emotions go down and let our heads clear.

"Then we can have a conversation on Tuesday about what we need to do going forward.

"This game is gone. I don't think it'll just disappear into the dust - it'll be at the back of our minds for a while - but there are a lot of challenges ahead."