The goal came from Barry Hayles after poor defending lead to a free kick finding Hayles, who had time to steer a free header past Conrad Logan to silence the Kop.
Commenting on the conclusion of the match, Kelly said: 'If we had won, we would have been one point behind
'It is credit to the players that now they are not happy with that result when, maybe earlier in the season, we might have felt more positively about it. That shows how things have changed.'
Meanwhile, Patrick McCarthy, Iain Hume, Momo Sylla and Patrick Kisnorbo have all received national call ups for their respective countries for games to be played this week.
Kelly hopes that all players will return in match fit condition in time to face