Motherwell have promised to hand out life bans to the supporters who racially abused St Johnstone striker Jason Scotland during last night's Scottish Cup quarter-final.

About a dozen supporters in Fir Park's main stand twice directed racist taunts at Scotland when he had possession in the opening stages of St Johnstone's 2-1 victory.

They were reprimanded by the vast majority of home fans around them and did not repeat the abuse after police and stewards were alerted.

Motherwell intend to take the most severe sanction available to them, and a club spokesman said: "We are trying to identify who the culprits were. If they can be identified there will be appropriate action taken, which would be lifetime bans.

"This behaviour cannot be tolerated by the club. These people are a disgrace to the club."