Motherwell headed into the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup after their 2-0 win over Annan put them through as group leaders.

There was a debut goal for Justin Amaluzor, a second from Barry Maguire and a debut for Callum Slattery to put Motherwell back onto a stable path ahead of next weekend’s opening league game against Hibs next Sunday.

The result went someway to ease the disquiet that followed their midweek Lanarkshire derby defeat to Airdrie with the performance fairly comfortable throughout for the Fir Park side.

Still, Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly has to make a penalty stop after he repelled an effort from Owen Moxon in the latter stages of the game, a moment that for Graham Alexander, the Motherwell manager, underlined the reasons why the club were so keen to get him on a permanent deal this summer.

“It validates our perseverance and patience because he is a fantastic goalkeeper,” he said. “In the big moments he comes up trumps and that was a big moment. It could have been nervy for us but the right time won. Fair play to Annan because they made us work hard.

“We didn’t talk about making up for Wednesday. We just knew we wanted to win the group and go through and to do that we knew we had to win the game. For me that was out focus. I didn’t need to tell the players how disappointing last Wednesday was. They are a good group of players and they knew themselves. They are honest. We all let ourselves down, myself included, and we had to show people the real us.”

Slattery came on for the final 12 minutes of regulation time as he was offered a hasty introduction to his new surroundings.

The midfielder who has yet to participate in a training session with his new colleagues but the game time he got against Annan ought to stand him in good stead as he looks to get up to speed with the rest of the squad.

“He will bring a little bit of everything,” said Alexander. “He is a good passer of the ball and he wants to pass forward and he can also put his foot in. He is what we would call an old-fashioned midfield player.

“We have been speaking to him and Southampton for a while as we tried to get him on board because there was a lot of interest in him. We are really happy that he chose us to take his career onto a new level.

“That is his first game in pre-season so we have to be careful. He hasn’t even trained with us. He only got up last on Friday and then we had to go through all the protocols but we felt that it was a good opportunity to get him into it and give him some game time. He showed some nice touches.

“Sometimes you can wait too long as a new player and that first game builds up in your mind. I spoke to him on Friday and told him that he would be on the bench to get him some minutes. It’s good because he is part of it and chatting with the boys.”

Not that Motherwell are finished their transfer business.

“We are hopeful of at least one more,” said Alexander. “There is something else that is bubbling away and hopefully that might happen this week. There are a few other options that are a bit further away. There is still a bit of work for us to do to get the squad to where we want it to be.”

On yesterday’s evidence, there remains some work to be done. Although dominant against the League Two side, there were some profligacy from the Fir Park side while it would have been a more nervous finale to the game had Moxon’s penalty gone in.

Kaiyne Woolery pace looks to be a decent addition to the squad and it was the winger who was the biggest threat Motherwell possessed. He had a half volley go wide in the opening stages but while Motherwell were dominant in possession Annan posted a warning when Iain Anderson drew an effort across the box that no-one could get on the end of.

The breakthrough came when Amaluzor netted his debut goal with Woolery the architect of the move. It was his pace that got him into a decent position in the box and although his cutback got stuck under the boot of Kevin van Veem, it broke to Amaluzor who steered the ball into the net from close range.

Maguire doubled Motherwell’s lead after Van Veem had put the ball into his path while Amaluzor ought to have added his second of the afternoon when substitute Tony Watt send him through on goal with a perfectly weighted pass. The striker’s effort, however, sneaked just past the left-hand post much to his frustration.

Annan had a glorious chance to pull a goal back in the latter stages of the game when Jake Carroll was penalised for a tug on the jersey of Tommy Goss. Liam Kelly, however, was equal to the attempt.