Motherwell

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

As predicted, Fir Park was the place to come for a team that has been struggling for results - in this case, Hibs. I wish I could say I was disappointed by Well's 3-0 loss, but it was so predictable.

It was by no means a good game or watch and it was obvious which team wanted it more.

Our best attempt was in the 86th minute and if that doesn’t sum up the game, I don't know what else will.

We have both Dundee United and St Mirren away this week, must-win games for us now to help us avoid the 10-game drought we seem to have every year. We're still doing well in terms of our league position, but things can change very quickly in this league.

It seems as though Stuart Kettlewell doesn't have a plan B for us anymore. Our tactics have been completely sussed out by other teams and we don't know what to do now.

We need four points minimum this week or else we will be in trouble.

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Motherwell will travel to face fellow Premiership side St Johnstone in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

The tie will take place on the weekend of 18/19 January.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell says his side need to "take a bat out and have a swing" as they look for a response to back-to-back defeats.

Although Well are fifth in the Scottish Premiership, they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ross County before a 3-0 loss at Hibernian.

"I think we have to understand where we've come up short and make sure that we have a real intent in trying to attack the game with the vision of trying to win it," the Well manager said.

"Not just turning up there to try and avoid an error, trying to tiptoe through a game.

"I actually feel that we probably need to take a bat out and have a swing. And that's my job, to make sure that the players are braced for that and prepared to attack it in that sense.”

"We will create chances if we show some sort of intensity to run towards the opposition goal.

"We’ve looked through a number of different stats. When we get into that final third, we're one of the teams that create some of the best quality chances in the division. We have to do that more readily.

"We have to have a greater willingness to pass the ball forward and run forward, really simply."

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been speaking to the media prior to his side's Premiership trip to Dundee on Wednesday.

Here are the key lines:

• Kettlewell says he is still "angry" at the 3-0 defeat his team suffered to Hibernian on Saturday, adding that they were "architects of our own downfall".

• The Well boss is demanding a "positive reaction" at Dundee on Wednesday.

• He wants to "maximise the opportunity" of the game in hand they have on rival clubs, but he insists they must "show a better version of ourselves".

• Kettlewell says "service has been lacking" for striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos in the past two games.

• And the manager went on to draw comparisons between the Australia forward and Theo Bair, who started slowly during his time at Motherwell before hitting a run of goalscoring form in the second half of last season.

We asked for your views on Motherwell's defeat to Hibs.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Anon: Two shots on goal against worst team in the league, too defensive. Stuart Kettlewell leaves a striker out every week who scores goals in Moses Ebiye. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos needs to be scoring.

Billy: Kidding ourselves on. No midfield and definitely no strikers. Good job we’ve been lucky enough to get some points on the board.

Derek: That must be our worst performance of the season. Abject. We looked like the side that were bottom of the league.

Kevin: Kettlewell chops and changes the team every week, sick to death with just one proper striker up top. Give us 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 and bin the defensive midfielders and have a go. Feel sorry for Stamatelopoulos coming halfway round the world to get no service!

Eric: We’re certainly missing Paul McGinn and Stephen O’Donnell at the back. They are comfortable with the ball and can feed the midfield, whereas the current back three just lump the ball downfield. This is causing Lennon Miller to drop too deep to collect the ball and forcing us backwards as a unit. I also believe the captain’s armband is weighing heavy on Miller’s arm.

David: The results at the start of this season papered over the performances with most wins coming from late goals after being second best for most of the matches. The last two games has shown Kettlewell's team really is about the same as last season and likely to go on another 18 games without a win. Time to look at the manager and see where he is going.

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• Mykola Kuharevich has scored three goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), no Hibernian player has more.

• Nicky Cadden has contributed to goals in his last four games in the Premiership (three goals, one assist).

• Motherwell attempted 398 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

• Hibernian have scored in their last five games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 12 games from February 2024 to May 2024.

Motherwell fans, we want to know what you made of Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Hibernian.

Let us know your thoughts here., external

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "Very simply, we didn't see it coming.

"Again we've conceded three amateurish goals and we didn't carry a threat at all at the top end of the pitch.

"That goes up there as arguably one of the worst performances and worst reactions to going behind in a game of football.

"Every single one of us came up short on the non-negotiables."

"I don't have an excuse this week, I can't blame travel issues, the weather, the referee, the time, whatever. This simply falls on me and us to be a better representation of this football club."

Adam Binnie
BBC Sport Scotland

It took Motherwell 49 minutes for the hosts to register their first shot on target, one of only two they mustered in the match.

Stuart Kettlewell tried nearly every attacking combination available to him, bringing on Tony Watt and Robinson at half-time before introducing Moses Ebiye later on.

Motherwell had no issue progressing the ball into the final third but looked devoid of ideas when they arrived there.

The attacking players were wasteful, the midfield lacked inspiration and the wide men were restricted to hopeful deep crosses into the box.

Perhaps the manager's greatest frustration will be that his side failed to test Jordan Smith in the opposition goal after his errors in midweek.

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Motherwell have lost Tom Sparrow for a month because of an ankle injury but hope to have Tony Watt available after a back spasm ruled him out against Ross County.

On-loan Hibs winger Jair Tavares is ineligible while Stephen O'Donnell (hamstring), Paul McGinn (thigh), Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson (both knee), Ross Callachan (hamstring) and Jack Vale (calf) remain out.

Hibs have Jordan Obita back from suspension while Lewis Miller and Kieron Bowie (hamstring) remain out.

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Tawanda Maswanhise aims to get back among the goals for Motherwell after travel disruption derailed his momentum.

The Zimbabwe forward scored in three successive games for the Steelmen before netting his first international goal to book his country's place in next year's Africa Cup of Nations.

However, his return from international duty was delayed until last Friday and he only had time for a quick change before catching the bus to Dingwall, where he had to make do with an appearance off the bench in Well's 2-1 defeat.

Now Maswanhise aims to show his true self when Hibs visit Fir Park on Saturday.

"There were delays from connecting flights so I got back late and the gaffer spoke to me about not starting," he said.

"I only had a couple of hours and then up the road. It was literally just a change of clothes and then up the road.

"It was a bit of a shambles, but you have just got to deal with it and look forward to this weekend. Hopefully I can continue my form and last week is out the window now."

Despite the travel problems, Maswanhise is still on a high from his goal in a 1-1 draw with Kenya that elevated his status in Zimbabwe.

"It's a massive, massive, massive achievement," the former Leicester player said. "People now look up to me back home so hopefully I can do more for my nation.

"Everyone was lively. We hadn't qualified for a few years and it's a big achievement for the whole nation. We got a lot of love."

The Scottish FA is poised to pay tribute to former Motherwell and Rangers winger Davie Cooper when the national side play Greece on 23 March - 30 years to the day since he died at the age of 39. (Scottish Sun), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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• Hibs have dropped 16 points from winning positions in the Scottish Premiership this season, at least twice as many as any other side (Dundee, Dundee United, and Kilmarnock all closest with 8). Motherwell, meanwhile, are one of just two sides yet to drop a point from a winning position in the competition this term (also Rangers).

• Motherwell have only lost one of their last six league meetings with Hibs (W3 D2), a 3-0 defeat in May last season. Their three wins in those last six are as many as their previous 18 against Hibs in the Scottish Premiership beforehand (W3 D6 L9).

• Hibs have only lost one of their last seven away league games against Motherwell (W3 D3), going down 2-1 in August 2023.

• Motherwell have won three of their last five home league games (L2), as many as their previous 18 games beforehand (W3 D7 L8).

• Hibs are winless in nine league games (D4 L5), the longest ongoing such run in this season's Scottish Premiership. Away from home, Hibs have won just one of their last 16 league matches (D8 L7), beating St Johnstone 3-1 in April last season.

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Motherwell have suffered another injury blow with midfielder Tom Sparrow set to be sidelined until the new year.

The midfielder played on through an ankle problem in last week's defeat at Ross County and will begin his lay-off when Motherwell host Hibernian on Saturday.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "Tom sustained an ankle injury in the first minute of the game on Saturday, as it turns out.

"So we reckon, based on the scan, that he's going to be out for a minimum of a month, which is a real blow.

"He's obviously pitched in with a couple of goals this season, kind of getting himself up to speed, found himself in our team."

Although Harry Paton is getting up to speed after missing much of the past nine months with two ankle injuries, Sparrow joins a growing list of long-term absentees which includes Sam Nicholson, Callum Slattery and Ross Callachan.

"We have found ourselves in a position where, since the very first game of the season, we've constantly had to work towards the profile of player that we have available," Kettlewell said.

"That hasn't allowed us to play a certain way, week in, week out, have that level of consistency, which I would always look for.

"But within that, there's been some good performances, there's been some good results. So from my side, it's always trying to find the best formula for what you've got available to you."

Kettlewell was unable to start Tawanda Maswanhise during the 2-1 defeat in Dingwall after the in-form goalscorer experienced delays on his return from Zimbabwe duty, while Tony Watt missed the game with a back spasm which has now cleared up.

Kettlewell said: "I think that everybody will understand that Tawanda would have been one of the names at the forefront of my mind going to play against Ross County.

"But he now settles back in and he has a week's training. We'll hopefully get him to the stage where he was at against the likes of Dundee United, where he's grabbing a couple of goals and being a real handful."

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Motherwell are to offer refunds to fans who had a ticket for last Saturday's game at Ross County but were unable to attend.

The Lanarkshire club advised supporters not to make the journey on the A9 to Dingwall because of treacherous weather conditions.

Motherwell say County were "not prepared" to offer refunds, so the Fir Park board and Well Society board have agreed to reimburse fans.

Chief executive Brian Caldwell said: "We felt this was the right thing to do.

"Lots of our supporters were left out of pocket through no fault of their own. We're a fan-owned club and this is a spectator sport.

"We want to ensure supporters feel valued and hopefully this is a small gesture they appreciate."

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

It was a disappointing result after the break but won't take the wind out our sails.

Dingwall away is a hard game at the best of times never mind when there's a storm and disruption all over the country.

We can't use those factors as excuses, but it won't have helped either team. Stuart Kettlewell had some harsh criticism directed at him after full-time but it's no time to panic.

I’m not saying we played to the best of our ability by any means, but we are sitting in the top six only four points behind Rangers and one behind Dundee United. We are in a much better place now compared to this time last season.

We have to throw our all at Hibs on Saturday to show this won't be the start of a slump.

We are notorious for giving teams results when they're on a poor run of form, but I am hoping that's not the case against the struggling Easter Road side.

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Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell insists he "doesn't have an ego" following criticism of referee Chris Graham in their 2-1 defeat to Ross County.

Kettlewell was unimpressed with the level of officiating during Saturday's game in Dingwall, particularly the lengthy delay for a VAR check on Zach Robinson's late goal.

"Ross County will enjoy the day because they get three points, but I doubt anyone enjoyed that game of football," the Motherwell manager said.

"There was never a flow allowed to the game because of the fouls given.

"I don't have an ego in any shape or form, I just want to see a game of football played.

"I'm not looking for time-wasting. We can talk about the conditions, but if I was a paying supporter I would be incredibly hurt by that.

"We have to do better in the second half, but there can't be one supporter in the stadium that enjoyed the lack of flow in that game.

"When we score, they look nervy, but we have to wait six minutes to get the game going again which kills any momentum we might have built."

Watch Sportscene analysis of Motherwell's 2-1 defeat against Ross County.

Watch highlights as Ross County win 2-1 against Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.