Motherwell

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Former Scotland international Lee Miller insists Stuart Kettlewell can turns things around at Motherwell, despite their recent poor form.

Wednesday night's 4-1 defeat at Dundee made it three losses on the bounce for the Steelmen, who are still in the top six - one point above seventh-placed St Mirren.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos's equaliser brought Kettlewell's side back into the game at Dens, but they capitulated, conceding three goals in seven second-half minutes.

"Everything that could go wrong last night went wrong for Motherwell," Miller told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Kettlewell is a very good manager and he did turn it around. He was allowed to have that time, which I totally agree with. Teams go through ruts like that. You have to pull your sleeves up and dig in and get together as a group.

"They have got a really good group, I know that for a fact. I hope and I think they will get through it, this bad run, but they just need to work their socks off."

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• Lyall Cameron has scored 4 goals in the Premiership this season (2 in this game), no Dundee player has more.

• Motherwell have lost their last 3 games in the Premiership, their last longer losing streak was from 16th September 2023 to 7th October 2023, a run of 4 games.

• Dundee are undefeated in their last 3 games in the Premiership, their last longer unbeaten streak was from 18th May 2024 to 31st August 2024, a run of 5 games.

• Motherwell have attempted 24 shots in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

• Dundee have scored in each of their last 5 games in the Premiership, scoring 13 goals in that run.

Watch the best of the action as Dundee put four goals past Motherwell to move up to fifth in the Scottish Premiership. (UK only)

Match report: Dundee 4-1 Motherwell

Dundee thrashed miserable Motherwell to record their second 4-1 victory in a row at home and rise to fifth in the Scottish Premiership.

Three second-half goals eased Dundee to victory, with Scott Tiffoney's goal on the counter putting Tony Docherty's side back in front before a Lyall Cameron double had them out of sight.

Motherwell's response was decent but they could not dent the deficit and instead recorded their third defeat in a row, falling to sixth.

What did you make of that, Motherwell fans? What went so wrong in Dundee?

And are you worried that this slump could continue? Let us know your thoughts, external.

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Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell told BBC Scotland: "I don't even think it's about the second half, when Dundee scored their second goal we were well on top.

"You get senses about your team and I felt really comfortable, we had plenty of penalty box entries and then you get to the incident that I would imagine we all have to be talking about which is a corner kick for us.

"I sat with the officials last night and we all spoke about a scenario where if an attacker gets goal side of the defender, we agreed last night those would be penalty kicks.

"Tonight it was not. Kofi Balmer takes a knee and a stud to the head. I've had a conversation with John Beaton there and he decided to play God and decide whether it was a bad enough head knock or not.

"He never moves from the ground, the counter-attack goes up the other end, I'm talking to the fourth official telling them the players' not moved inside the penalty area and we choose to play on and Dundee scores. That's when the absolute madness ensues. We have to take responsibility for goals three and four but we also have to realise how big those moments are in games of football when the balance is so fine.

"That impacts livelihoods, that impacts jobs, that impacts the emotion of the supporters, the league position and everything else. When we have a chance to look back at it we have to do something about it."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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The other thing that Kettlewell mentioned pre-match was not showing Dundee "any weaknesses," yet it seemed his players weren't listening.

Although they had far more shots, a far higher xG (expected goals), and far more touches in the opposition box, a lot of that was too little, too late.

Dundee were clinical, bullying a Motherwell defence that was put to the sword by Hibernian just a few days ago.

The first goal should have been stopped higher up the pitch. The second came from their own set-piece. The third was a deflection, and the fourth was a defender not wanting the ball more as much as a hungry striker.

The bottom has fallen out of Motherwell's strong early season form and Kettlewell needs to address it urgently. He's been on far worse runs than this, but a busy festive period is the last thing he needs.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Stuart Kettlewell didn't mince his words after his side's listless 3-0 loss to Hibs. "No excuses" he said, for "the worst performance" in a long time from his team.

He also talked about the reaction - or lack of it - his side showed to going a goal down.

That will be a particular disappointment for the manager. Losing a goal is one thing, but it was the lack of any real fight from his players in trying to get back into the game that seems to have irked Kettlewell most.

His team have an opportunity to put that right against Dundee tonight at Dens. Kettlewell will definitely want to see an improvement, in fact he'll be demanding it.

The slight worry is he suggested the lack of intent from his players was psychological. How do you work on that in training?

A confident mindset comes from winning games. In Motherwell's opening 13 matches, they only lost two. They were in a good place. In their last seven games, they've only won two. That needs to be rectified quickly otherwise there's a danger that negative mood will continue.

Their forthcoming games are tricky ones too. After the trip to face Dundee, they're away to St Mirren, then at home to Kilmarnock and Dundee United before a meeting with either side of the Old Firm.

That's six tough games to end the calendar year. Kettlewell will be hoping a mindset reversal can materialise.

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Curtis Main and Trevor Carson (both) have returned to Dundee training. Clark Robertson (thigh), Ziyad Larkeche (hamstring) and Scott Fraser (groin) remain out along with long-term absentee Joe Shaughnessy (knee).

Motherwell striker Zach Robinson is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles suffered in training on Tuesday.

Jair Tavares returns after missing the defeat against parent club Hibernian. The Steelmen remain without Tom Sparrow (ankle), Stephen O'Donnell, Ross Callachan (both hamstring), Paul McGinn (thigh), Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson (both knee) and Jack Vale (calf).

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Motherwell striker Zach Robinson will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles in training.

The 22-year-old striker "went down as he went for the ball" during "a shape walkthrough" on Tuesday morning.

While Motherwell say there are "no clear timescales", the Englishman will undergo surgery on Thursday and "will be out for a considerable period of time, including the rest of this season".

Robinson has played 19 times, scoring twice, since joining the Scottish Premiership club following his exit from Wimbledon, from whom he was on loan to Dundee last season.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell told his club website: "This is a real blow. We have been working to get players back to fitness, which has been going well, but to then be dealt this news, it's gutting. We now have seven players unavailable, which is far from ideal.

"We were just going through team shape for Wednesday's game at walking pace. With no signs beforehand of an upcoming injury, it's disappointing all round. Most importantly, the player needs to be looked after."

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Motherwell defender Liam Gordon insists they will "rectify" their 3-0 defeat to bottom club Hibs.

Stuart Kettlewell's side travel to Dundee on Wednesday night looking for a response to back-to-back defeat to Ross County and Hibs.

“It’s very important that you address the mistakes and the errors and the problems that you face at the weekend and that's what we'll do," Gordon said.

"We've done that after every victory as well so nothing changes from that. It's the same head on with that approach.

"The manager can obviously give us ideas and implement certain solutions for us but it comes down to the players at the end of the day.

"I think at the weekend, that’s nothing on the coaching staff or the club, that was down to the players.

"We let ourselves down, we let the coaching staff down and we let the club down, most importantly.

"Now it's our opportunity to go and rectify that and I've got every faith that we will."

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• After their 1-0 win in October, Dundee could earn successive league victories over Motherwell for the first time since April 2017 (three in a row).

• Motherwell have won five and lost just one of their last seven league away games against Dundee (D1), winning their last such trip 3-2 in April last season.

• Dundee have won both of their last two home games in the Scottish Premiership, last winning three in a row in the top-flight on home turf in April 2002 under Ivano Bonetti which included a 2-0 victory over Motherwell.

• Since drawing four successive away games in the Scottish Premiership from December 2023 to February 2024, none of Motherwell's last 13 on the road in the league have finished level (W7 L6).

• Lyall Cameron has scored in three of his four Scottish Premiership appearances against Motherwell (three goals), including Dundee's winner in October (1-0).

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."