Can Steelmen turn 'perfect preparation' into cup final berth?

The plaudits have been glowing and growing for Motherwell this season.

Now they're heading to Hampden on Saturday in the League Cup semi-finals buoyant after the dominant 2-0 victory over Dundee United.

With some silly ball possession stats, solid defending, and a beautiful team goal, was Wednesday night the epitome of Jens Berthel Askou's vision?

Motherwell passed Dundee United off the park in the first half. They had 72% ball possession, 200 more passes than United, 12 touches in the opposition box, but yet just one goal.

It was a well-worked goal through, cutting down the left-hand channel where Longelo swept the ball to Maswanhise who tucked home.

The stats shouldn't shock those who have watched Motherwell this season. Only Rangers and Celtic have enjoyed more possession in this campaign.

They rank third for accurate passes. Fourth for expected goals, big chances, and touches in the opposition box.

Against Rangers, in the first game of the season, they drew 1-1 but massively outperformed their opposition in xG.

But sometimes stats don't tell the whole story. Against St Mirren, their opposition this Saturday, Motherwell dominated the ball with 66% possession, played 600 passes. That game ended goalless.

United offer 'perfect preparation' for semi-final

Askou was quietly pleased with the performance against United, and he wasn't the only one impressed.

Jim Goodwin, while dismayed at his side's performance, could not hide his admiration of Motherwell's display.

"We were really poor on the night, but I don't want to take anything away from Motherwell - I thought they were excellent, particularly in the first half," the United boss said.

"Motherwell want the press, want you to come on to them, they want to break lines and take your midfield out the game. They caused us numerous problems.

But it's not really about getting your flowers from opposition managers. It's about winning games, and Askou knows that.

"In many ways it was the perfect preparation," the Dane said on Wednesday night.

"With a little more quality and freshness in some of the guys' legs, we could have probably created another big chance or two to finish off the game even earlier.

"Right now, we're seeing a lot of good performances from a lot of different players - that's exactly what we need."