Motherwell

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland

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It was a masterful first-half performance from Motherwell which won this game. Manager Stuart Kettlewell and his players knew Simo Valakari's St Johnstone are more expansive than they have been in years, but also more vulnerable.

Time and again they broke at speed when Saints lost the ball, getting down the sides of centre-backs Jack Sanders and Kyle Cameron.

Right-back Marvin Kaleta was at the heart of that and was excellent at driving down the flank, putting in a perfect cross to create the opening goal.

Tom Sparrow's arrowed finish across the goalkeeper was another example of their neat and ruthless attacking.

Kettlewell continues to get the most out of this group as they make a strong case to finish in the top six this season.

They are now seven points clear of seventh place, already a significant gap.

Motherwell make just one enforced change to the XI which lost at Hampden against Rangers. Centre-back Liam Gordon serves the second game of his suspension and is replaced my midfielder Tom Sparrow. Harry Paton is on the bench for the first time this season after injuring his ankle during the summer.

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The suspended Liam Gordon will miss out against former club St Johnstone while Harry Paton and Johnny Koutroumbis might be on the bench but are short of match fitness.

Motherwell remain without Stephen O'Donnell (hamstring), Paul McGinn (thigh), Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson (both knee), Ross Callachan (hamstring) and Jack Vale (calf).

St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair misses out but his injury is not serious.

Lewis Neilson and Andre Raymond return while Croatian centre-half Bozo Mikulic could make his debut.

Uche Ikpeazu is back in training following knee surgery while Cammy MacPherson (hip) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) remain out.

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Simo Valakari admits he has not been back to Motherwell since leaving the club 24 years ago as he looks forward to a reunion on Saturday when he takes his St Johnstone side to Lanarkshire.

The Finn joined Motherwell in 1996 as a player and spent four years at the club before leaving to join Derby County.

"It is nice to go back to Fir Park because that was the place I started my professional career," Valakari said.

"I played my last game for Motherwell in 2000 when we beat Rangers 2-0. It’s now 24 years, I have not been back there.

"It will be nice to see the stadium again, to see the fans, but we have a big job with St Johnstone and this is our thing now, so full focus."

Valakari was full of praise for Stuart Kettlewell's side, who sit fifth after a solid start to the Premiership campagin.

"I have been watching and following Motherwell a long time, for many reasons," Valakari added.

"I see a very strong team who have a good team chemistry who are working for each other, who have some special players, with some pace, some good midfielders with the ball, some good defenders. It’s a very solid team. We need to find our way to hurt the opponent."

And while he focused on Saturday's match, Valakari admitted he never thought he'd return to the Scottish game.

"Not even one day did I think I would get the chance to manage in the Scottish Premiership," he said "I have been working very hard to get here and I am so happy and proud to be manager of St Johnstone.

"It’s a great moment to go back there but... we leave the nostalgia. Great memories, they never go, I never forget them, but now it’s a new chapter."

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Midfielder Tom Sparrow insists there is "more to come" from Motherwell amid their bright start to the seaon.

The 21-year-old says the injury-hit Steelmen have put last weekend's League Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers behind them and are focused on St Johnstone's visit on Saturday.

"We put it to bed, we have an important game on Saturday that we need to focus on," said Sparrow.

"We just need to keep going. I think there's more to come from us.

"The injuries is a big thing, you look at the squad from the weekend and there were a lot of lads missing who would have played a big part of that, which is important.

"But we are fourth in the table with them missing so the other lads have done really well. Hopefully when everyone's back and fit, we will kick on even more.

"I feel settled now. I've had a couple of starts and hopefully some more. Everyone's been brilliant and I just want to kick on and keep improving."

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Stuart Kettlewell is urging his Motherwell side not to have a Hampden hangover as they look to bounce back from their League Cup disappointment without injured right-back Stephen O'Donnell.

Motherwell welcome St Johnstone to Fir Park on Saturday and the manager stressed it is imperative to "take care of league action" and park the disappointment of Sunday's semi-final defeat by Rangers.

"That's what I said, don't have a hangover and that disappointment," he said. "But you've got another opportunity to do it as well. As difficult as that might be, this football club under Stephen Robinson managed to do that some six years ago, get to Hampden a few times in the season.

"But I don't think you'll ever achieve anything unless you're taking care of the league action. So very simply, they have to take the good aspects of it, you have to be motivated by the negative side of it.

"But it's not just about cup football, that's about trying to take that into league action for us as well."

Motherwell will need to do it without O'Donnell, who missed out on Sunday with a hamstring injury and is set to endure a spell on the sidelines.

"He's going to be out for a period of time," Kettlewell said. "It's difficult to put the exact date on that but we know categorically he'll be out for at least another four weeks and potentially into December."

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been addressing the media before his side's Premiership match against St Johnstone this weekend.

Here are the key points:

• The manager says the new board "share his vision" of moving the club forward in a "positive way".

• Kettlewell is "not having to pick players up off the canvas" following their League Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers: "We're OK, we're fine despite unbelievable disappointment on Sunday night and Monday morning but we're desperate to get back into league action."

• He has urged his players "not to have a hangover" after the cup exit.

• Lennon Miller is also "absolutely fine" due to his maturity, despite captaining Motherwell in the weekend defeat.

• Kettlewell says his side have "undoubtedly" improved from last season and he is "jealous" of the young players who played at Hampden on Sunday.

• Stephen O'Donnell will be out for "at least another four weeks and potentially into December".

• After their 2-1 win in August, Motherwell are looking for back-to-back league victories over St Johnstone for the first time since November 2019.

• St Johnstone have won three of their last four away league games at Motherwell (D1), this after having lost four of their previous five such trips beforehand (W1).

• Motherwell have lost their last two home league games, last losing more on the bounce in November 2022 (4).

• St Johnstone have conceded more goals in the Scottish Premiership this season than any other side (25), keeping just two clean sheets in their 12 matches so far. Indeed, only Dundee (19.0) have a higher expected goals against total in the division this term than the Perth side (17.4).

• Motherwell have had fewer shots (108) than any team in the Scottish Premiership this season, while only Hibernian and Ross County (both 10) have scored fewer goals than the Steelmen (13).

Sport Republic, which owns Southampton, French club Valenciennes and Turkish outfit Goztepe, is keeping close tabs on 18-year-old midfielder Lennon Miller, but it would take a potential club record bid, in excess of David Turnbull's sale to Celtic, for Motherwell to even consider selling. (Daily Record), external

St Johnstone are expecting to have a long-awaited work permit for centre-back Bozo Mikulic in time for the Croat to make his debut against Motherwell on Saturday. (The Courier), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

I am bitterly disappointed following Motherwell's Hampden defeat by Rangers.

With how poor Rangers have been on and off the park we had the perfect opportunity, and we threw it away.

Stuart Kettlewell's substitutions were confusing - they somehow made the game worse for us. By the 60th minute it was as if we were a team deflated, having taken the lead in the first half. If we had just stuck it out, we could have made it into extra time and penalties where anything could have happened.

Giving Lennon Miller the armband was a mistake. I was incredibly proud of him but the captaincy was far too much pressure for him in such a high-stakes game.

Andy Halliday scoring was phenomenal, it was an amazing goal and at the time I didn't even notice the lack of celebration, but it has bothered me looking back.

Why does Halliday feel the need to make gestures as though he is sorry for scoring when he left Rangers years ago? He is employed by Motherwell and he was doing his job by scoring.

If I were to apologise to my former employer for doing my current job everyone would look at me strangely.

Not celebrating with your teammates in the biggest game of our season just feels odd to me. Players around the world have done the same and that is up to the individuals involved, but it just doesn't sit right on this occasion.

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Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller is targeting more Hampden appearances with Motherwell after Sunday's League Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers.

The Steelmen led through Andy Halliday's first-half strike, but two second-half concessions ended their hopes of a first major trophy since 1991.

"It's my first semi-final in my career, I want to have many more – especially with this club," Miller said.

"It's a massive achievement to get here, so we can't less this affect our season.

"First half I thought we were really good. We maybe didn't create as many chances as we would have wanted but we go in at 1-0.

"The early goal in the second half kinds of kills us. A good team like Rangers are going to punish you. Early goal maybe knocks our confidence a little."

Miller was named captain for the semi-final in Stephen O'Donnell's absence, and despite being praised by fans and pundits alike for his displays this season, the 18-year-old insists there is more to come.

"[My season has] been alright," he said. "I'm a harsh critic to myself – I want more goals and assists."

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After a scintillating run of form, that included captaining his club in a cup semi-final at just 18 yesterday, some onlookers thought Lennon Miller might have won his maiden Scotland call-up today.

He is certainly on Steve Clarke's radar, but the Scotland head coach explained his decision to allow the teenager "to grow", rather than be called up for the upcoming matches against Croatia and Poland.

"It's good for Lennon, it's good for his club," Clarke said. "He's another young one that everyone wants to hype and push.

"It's important to let young players to grow. Let's just allow Lennon a little bit of space and time to grow."

Clarke spoke similarly about Ben Doak, 18, not all that long ago before calling him up for the Euros squad - which he missed through injury - and the Nations League campaign, in which he has won four caps.

"You want to have as many difficult choices as you can, you want to have as many good players as you can, so the more young players coming through the better it is for everybody in Scotland," Clarke continued.

"It's already been mentioned in one of the reports that came out recently that we don’t produce enough young players, so hopefully we can in the future."

Instead, Miller will remain with the Scotland Under-19s over the international break, as they prepare for three home European Championship qualifiers against Wales, Liechtenstein and France.

We asked for your views on Motherwell’s 2-1 defeat against Rangers to knock them out of the League Cup.

Here's what some of you said:

George: A good opportunity missed through lack of composure when on the ball and a distinct lack of ambition. Stuart Kettlewell's weaknesses were apparent - Kofi Balmer's long throws were often the start of Rangers counter-attacks and his substitutions were inexcusable.

Michael: I thought we started off slow with slack play and low work rate. But once we got the first goal from amazing link-up play, we sprung into life and began playing to our usually standards. Towards the last 25 minutes we ran out of steam and our midfield fell apart.

Col: A missed opportunity. We were playing against a team low in confidence and should have capitalised on that. Instead we played an ultra-defensive formation which left our front players isolated and largely ineffective. Lennon Miller looked subdued today, perhaps the responsibilty of team captain was too much on such an important occasion.

Mark: Awful. Probably one of the worst performances I’ve seen in cup competition in a long time. No belief we could win, didn’t trouble them at all. Kettlewell's substitutes were baffling to say the least. Miller as captain completely backfired - he was never in the game. One to forget for all concerned.

Robert: I haven’t felt so deflated after a game for a long time. Fair play to Rangers for taking their chances, but they were there for the taking. If we had been more confident we would have been able to ramp up the pressure after scoring. It’s a very sore one to take.

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell argues that referee Nick Walsh should have awarded a free-kick to his side in the build-up to Rangers' winning goal from Nedim Bajrami in yesterday's League Cup semi-final. (Glasgow Times), external

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

Holders Rangers staged a second-half comeback to secure a Scottish League Cup final place against Celtic, with Nedim Bajrami's late deflected strike eventually decisive.

Motherwell threatened to heap more pressure on manager Philippe Clement after a run of poor results.

Although Rangers had the better of the opening stages, they fell behind when former Ibrox midfielder Andy Halliday stretched to volley past Jack Butland after Jefte misread Steve Seddon's wonderful cross from the left.

Halliday's celebrations were muted against his former side as everyone else in claret and amber went wild at the prospect of a famous win.

They initially held firm as Rangers failed to mount the sort of onslaught you might expect. Connor Barron went close from outside the box but the intense boos that greeted Nick Walsh's half-time whistle spoke volumes.

The second-half turnaround was as swift as it was needed for Rangers. Cyriel Dessers, who earlier missed a close-range sitter, changed the game when he clipped home Barron's centre to end his run of eight games without a goal.

Jefte was superbly denied by Aston Oxborough, who diverted the Brazilian's volley on to the post. James Tavernier blazed over, Bajrami could not covert from close range and Oxborough again brilliantly denied Vaclav Cerny as Motherwell defended for their lives.

But after good work from Cerny on the right, Bajrami's deflected effort deceived Oxborough as Clement's side did enough to avoid another damaging result.

Were you at Hampden or following the match elsewhere? Either way, we want your views on the game - have your say, external.

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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At half-time, the chances of Motherwell inflicting another League Cup defeat on their opponents looked a more than reasonable prospect. They delivered a 2-0 semi-final win in 2017 and led here until just after the break.

The timing of Rangers goal was so damaging, though, as at that point their fans were on their back and the longer that went the more benefit it would have brought. Rangers were rocking but responded.

Stuart Kettlewell is doing a remarkable job on limited resources and this display showed what his side are all about. They came close again, have quality in their ranks and a structure that makes them effective and dangerous at times.

They were led by example by 18-year-old captain Lennon Miller. He again showed flashes of his undoubted ability but there were a number who shone, including Aston Oxborough, who delivered vital saves at vital times.

Motherwell may feel this was a missed opportunity and will be frustrated at the misfortune at the decisive goal. It may feel slightly hollow but they can take enormous credit and belief into their upcoming fixtures after a spirited show.

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Motherwell keeper Aston Oxborough made eight saves at Hampden. His performance kept the Steelmen in the contest, and he was not at fault for either of the Rangers goals.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "The overriding emotion is I'm disappointed. I'm gutted for the players and the supporters.

"I thought we put ourselves in a really good position. For us to get better, there's going to have to be moments where there's better quality. It's not a criticism, it's my job to make sure we can tackle these games and have enough quality on the pitch.

"There's not a great gulf between the clubs on the day. We know they are going to have lots of the ball, but one or two better decisions probably keeps that negative feeling when we're one ahead.

"This doesn't derail our start to the season. I'm proud as punch because the players put it all out there."

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• Rangers have won three and lost three of their latest six games.

• Motherwell have won four and lost two in their latest six outings.

• Well's 2-1 win at Ibrox in March is their only win over Rangers in 21 meetings since beating them 2-0 in the last League Cup semi-final between the sides in 2017.

• Overall, Rangers have won nine of their 17 League Cup meetings with Motherwell, who have won four.

• Motherwell have lifted the League Cup once, beating Hibernian 3-0 in the 1950 final.

• Rangers lifted the League Cup for a 28th time by beating Aberdeen 1-0 under Philippe Clement in December last year.

• Well last reached the League Cup final in 2017, losing to Celtic 2-0 after beating Rangers in the semi-final.