Dominic Thomas - or Dom as he is known in the more hip and happening environs of football where Christian names are shortened to within an inch of their lives - is emerging as a one to watch at Motherwell, whatever you want to call him .

Whether you know the 18-year-old as Dom or Dominic, or possibly even Thomo or DT, the teenage winger is slowly making a name for himself. A sprightly appearance as a substitute in his team's spirited 1-1 draw with St Johnstone on Saturday was further proof of that.

Motherwell had endured the kind of agonised, painful run usually reserved for a marathon man with bad blisters having lost five games on the spin prior to the weekend's encounter.

Thomas played a key role in ending that increasingly grim statistic which had left them down in the relegation play-off place. The Glasgow-born youngster's dogged inventiveness helped set up John Sutton's rasping 76th minute equaliser and earned the 10-men of Motherwell a deserved share of the spoils.

Nurtured by former manager Stuart McCall, Thomas has clearly caught the eye of the new gaffer, Ian Baraclough, and he is eager to make the most of his chances under the new regime.

"Don't get me wrong, Stuart McCall was great with me," said Thomas. "Maybe I wasn't ready under Stuart but the new gaffer is giving me the game time.

"The new manager has come in and he's been brilliant with me to be honest. I'm playing as hard as I can in training and the starts are what I want. I go on the park to a job and hopefully I keep doing what I'm doing and get a few starts. I was just buzzing when we scored. I knew it would be a crucial goal in the game and I was just delighted to get the assist."

Alongside other fresh faces like Craig Moore and Lee Erwin, Thomas is part of a youthful brigade that Baraclough will be hoping can flourish and take Motherwell forward. They say a relegation dogfight is no place for raw recruits but Thomas is relishing the opportunity to earn his stripes.

"I'm confident we'll not be there at the end of the season," he added. "I think the young boys and the older ones have what it takes to get us out of there. We just have to believe in ourselves. A lot of people are not believing in us but we believe in ourselves and that's the important thing. It's really good seeing the other youngsters around me. It's just like playing with your friends at the park. I've known them for years. They know what I'm going to do and I know what they are going to do so it's hugely beneficial."

As Motherwell battled their way to a draw, St Johsntone's Steven MacLean was left to reflect on an end result that felt "like a defeat."

Leading, and well in command, thanks to Murray Davidson's tidy eighth minute effort, MacLean had an opportunity to double the visiting side's lead early in the second half when his diving header bounced by the post. Not long after, he came to his team's rescue when he used his heid to clear a goalbound effort off the line. Motherwell, who lost debutant Louis Laing to a red card after just 25 minutes, would get their goal, and their point, eventually.

"That would have killed the game," said MacLean as he reflected on his sniff at goal. "If I scored that, it's probably game over but we should still have seen the game out. We should have kept the ball better. We stopped doing things well that we were doing in the first half. We stopped moving the ball as well and we were just putting long balls forward.

"We are just so disappointed and it feels like a defeat in the dressing room, when you compare it to the draw last week. We were playing a top of the league side. No disrespect to Motherwell but Aberdeen are a top side and we felt today that we should've got the three points. But they are fighting for their lives just now and credit to them."