Motherwell

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

There was a plan A, B and then C as Motherwell tried to grab an equaliser against Dundee on Saturday, but all three fell short as the Fir Park side’s winning run came to an end.

Nobody could accuse Stuart Kettlewell of failing to explore every option in a bid to try and get back into the match - at one point it looked like he'd gone for a four-pronged attack.

He has plenty of attacking options to choose from, but right now they're just not firing on all cylinders.

In terms of out-and-out strikers, Moses Ebiye is joint top scorer this season on four goals, alongside Lennon Miller, but from 13 appearances that's hardly prolific. Ebiye's last goal came over a month ago, although he has not been a regular starter.

Zach Robinson so far has been Kettlewell's first-choice man up top, and has netted once in 14 games.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has one goal from three starts, but he is yet to find his rhythm after a spell out injured.

While Tawanda Maswanhise, Jair Tavares and Tony Watt have all been given game-time, none have found the back of the net.

The Motherwell manager would perhaps be hoping for more from his frontmen, but he'll not be giving up hope that they can start to deliver.

Remember Theo Bair? He took a few months to come good. He only managed two goals in his first four months at the club, then come the end of December he hit a purple patch that earned him a big-money move to Auxerre in Ligue 1.

Motherwell's goal-shy forwards would do well to take inspiration from him as they look to discover some shooting form.

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

Well, all good things must come to an end.

Over the years I have noticed teams having no luck with their form come to Fir Park and get a result. It was rinse and repeat on Saturday.

Getting a win would have been perfect heading into a three-game run of Celtic at home, Dundee United away and Rangers at Hampden in the League Cup semis.

But we just weren't clinical enough. There were multiple attempts at goal, yes, but when players are making simple errors then you're going to get punished.

Although Lennon Miller is one of our most important players, I would like to see him rested for the Celtic game as we can't afford him to pick up an injury.

He was the target of quite a few questionable tackles that could have ended badly and it's not worth the risk.

Stuart Kettlewell needs to drop Zach Robinson as he is underperforming and, to put it bluntly, isn't a first-choice striker.

Also, Tony Watt has been a shell of the player that left us. I was hoping we were getting the same striker back, but he still seems unfit.

One defeat doesn't spell tragedy for the club, nor does it mean we're about to go on our yearly long winless run, but losing to Dundee before facing the Old Firm in the space of a week is a sore one to take.

Image source, SNS

Former Motherwell striker Ross McCormack expects the club to keep hold of star midfielder Lennon Miller for another season, as the 18-year-old continues to develop at Fir Park.

However, if Miller were to leave Motherwell, McCormack says the Scotland Under-21 international must pick his move carefully so to not stunt his growth as a player.

"I think it's down to what club he goes to and what manager he works under," McCormack said, speaking to the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"He's got to pick that very carefully because if he goes somewhere who are not notoriously big on throwing the young boys in, or a manager who likes more experienced players, then he could struggle and he'll probably have to then take one or two steps down to go again.

"But if he goes somewhere that play good football, the manager believes in young kids and he'll probably have probably 100 Motherwell appearances under his belt by then or whatever it may be.

"He's just a great talent and it's great to see him in Scottish football. It's not an easy league to play in, especially as an 18-year-old coming into the centre of midfield for someone outside the Old Firm and more or less running the show in nearly every game.

"It's great to see and I do expect Motherwell to keep a hold of him this summer."

Liam: Dundee started the better and appeared more up for the game. Easily the better team in the first half. Motherwell made changes in the second half and came into the game. Wingers made a difference. Think Dundee just deserved to edge it.

Andrew: Anybody that thinks we are a top-six side is delusional in consideration of this performance. Total disgrace and unacceptable. Too many times the club get into a strong league position to throw points away at home against average opposition. The manager has to shoulder the blame for his tactics, lack of awareness and team selection.

Anon: Off the pace all day against Dundee. Well looked jaded instead of rejuvenated after the international break. Three or four individuals in particular were making repeated mistakes in terms of ball control and basic passes. Simon Murray up front for Dundee was miles ahead of any Well striker in terms of work and energy. Lyall Cameron in midfield ran the show.

Eddie: Outplayed and out-thought, never won a ball in the air but still continued to play high balls. Dundee defence was solid yesterday and a deserved win.

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• Dundee have beaten Motherwell for the first time in the Premiership since 27 November 2021, a run of four games without a win.

• Motherwell attempted 371 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

• Dundee attempted 15 shots in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

• Liam Gordon attempted 59 passes in this game, the highest total for a Motherwell player in the Premiership this season.

Image source, SNS

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "We tried but I can't stake a claim for how we played today. We had a rally in the last 30 minutes in fits and starts.

"Overall we end up changing the plan two or three times today because we didn't execute the first one well enough. We didn't do the second one either.

"We got to stage three and we had a little bit more of a threat and Dundee were hemmed in. We had one or two opportunities but nothing too clear cut.

"We looked dazed, our decision making and quality on the ball was poor throughout the day. It was a bad day for us, we fell short of our standards."

Dundee earned a first Scottish Premiership win in six matches as a polished performance defeated in-form Motherwell at Fir Park.

The decisive, and only, goal came in the first half when Lyall Cameron slid the ball into the bottom corner after Simon Murray's header was blocked by Ewan Wilson.

Were you at Fir Park or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here, external.

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell have been excellent in recent weeks but their intensity was notably lower here.

Lennon Miller, their standout player, looked tired after travelling back from Kazakhstan where he starred for Scotland under-21s.

The absence of captain Paul McGinn's calm authority and ability to play progressive passes was keenly felt, as Motherwell went too direct.

His absence for the foreseeable future with a thigh issue will be a concern.

Stuart Kettlewell's disgruntlement was clear as he changed Stamatelopoulos and Zach Robinson for Tony Watt and Moses Ebiye at half-time, before swiftly adding winger Tawanda Maswanhise and Tavares to go with four attackers.

But they managed just three shots on target and fashioned few chances. Kettlewell will hope it is a one off after an encouraging start to the season.

Having won their last two league matches it's no surprise Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell makes just one enforced change. Paul McGinn has a thigh injury and drops out, but Dan Casey is back from suspension and comes into defence.

Stephen O'Donnell captains the side in McGinn's absence.

• Follow the action

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Motherwell captain Paul McGinn drops out with a thigh problem but Dan Casey returns from suspension. Callum Slattery, Sam Nicholson (both knee), Harry Paton (ankle), Ross Callachan (hamstring) and Jack Vale (calf) are long-term absentees.

Dundee midfielder Mo Sylla is suspended while Jordan McGhee’s swift recovery from a calf injury has given him a chance of featuring. Joe Shaughnessy is making good progress from a long-term knee injury.

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It's hard to believe the Motherwell midfielder is just 18, with 50 club appearances clocked up already.

Lennon Miller has two Premiership goals and three assists to his name so far this season, along with a couple of League Cup penalties.

He added to his burgeoning reputation with a lovely strike and assist in Scotland U21's defeat in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

Miller is a portrait of composure on the ball and his quick thinking from a free-kick led to the opener in Motherwell's win at Easter Road.

That was the fourth 2-1 in a row for 'Well, with three of those going their way, and Miller has been instrumental in such a good start. He makes the team tick.

Read the rest of this weekend's Premiership picks

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Leanne Crichton reckons Stuart Kettlewell is "absolutely the right man" to lead Motherwell as they look to continue their flying start to the season.

The Fir Park side have won five of their last six games in all competitions and have a League Cup semi-final against Rangers to look forward to at the start of next month.

Crichton thinks the Motherwell players are truly buying in to Kettlewell's ideas, with the Steelmen fourth in the Scottish Premiership.

"I think there’s a huge amount of clarity in the way that he wants his players to play, how he expects them to perform, defensively what's expected of them," she said on BBC Scotland’s Scottish Football Podcast.

"I think Kettlewell has managed to deliver that message, along with his staff and he's now getting the response.

"He's having to juggle and fight fires at times as well, which for any manager, it’s never that straightforward. The likes of Zach Robinson have come in, he now to me looks like he's starting to get up to speed and understand the expectation of being a Motherwell player.

"Andy Halliday, I’ve watched a number of the games, now that he’s had a run in the team, you can start to see his influence and I don’t think you can get away from how good Lennon Miller has been the entire season and he continued that form into the international stage for the under-21s midweek as well. He's just such a joy to watch.

"When you’ve got that at the heart of your team, it must just make everybody else around you better, and a notable mention to Aston Oxborough in goal who has been outstanding this season, and signed an extension to his contract.

"Kettlewell is absolutely the right man to be in that job at Motherwell."

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• Motherwell have only lost one of their last 14 Scottish Premiership games against Dundee (W9 D4), going down 0-3 in November 2021.

• Dundee are winless in seven Scottish Premiership away games at Motherwell (D3 L4) since a 3-2 victory in April 2017.

• Motherwell have won four of their last five league games (L1), including both of their last two. The Steelmen last won three league matches in a row in September 2023.

• Dundee have won just one of their last 15 league games (D6 L8), a 3-1 victory over Heart of Midlothian in August. Away from home, the Dee have won just one of their last 11 in the Scottish Premiership (D4 L6), beating St Johnstone 2-1 in March.

• Excluding penalties, Motherwell have scored more goals from set-pieces (6) than any side in the Scottish Premiership this season.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been speaking to the media prior the Premiership visit of Dundee on Saturday.

Here are the key lines:

• He says he has suffered a bit of "disruption" because of players being away on international duty, but he will never "find that as a negative".

• Kettlewell says "there's a real feelgood factor" at the club and it is "up to us to keep that going".

• But he recognises Dundee will pose a "real tough" test for his side.

• Kettlewell says "competition is fierce to get into the matchday squad" and he won't "accept petulance" from players who don't get selected.

• Asked how much he can enjoy periods like this, he replies: "I don't... I'm not one to sit here and pat myself on the back."

• Kettlewell says talks are ongoing over further contract extensions and he hopes "there are other bits of news to break".

• The Well boss says nothing surprises him with 18-year-old Lennon Miller, who scored while on international duty with Scotland Under-21s, and he has "no doubt" he could play for the senior squad.

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Teenage full-back Ewan Wilson has signed a contract extension at Motherwell after "impressing everyone with his consistency," says manager Stuart Kettlewell.

The defender's new deal will run until the summer of 2027, with the club holding an option of a further year.

The 19-year-old has cemented himself in the first team this season after having a loan cut short with Stirling Albion last term.

Wilson then ended the campaign with non-league Beith Juniors before going on to establish himself in Kettlewell's side.

"He's worked so hard to get to this point," the Well boss said. "And he's shown a professional mentality during the summer.

"We're now seeing the rewards of all that effort and I hope he continues the way he has started."

Scotland Under-21 international Wilson added: "This season has been really good for me. The hard work won't stop. I want to keep my place and continue to improve."

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Stuart Kettlewell has revealed Motherwell captain Paul McGinn will be out for a "significant period of time" with a thigh problem.

The 33-year-old defender picked up the injury in training during the international break.

Speaking prior to the Fir Park side's home league game against Dundee on Saturday, Kettlewell confirmed McGinn will "miss a good chunk".

"We have a disappointment, we've lost Paul McGinn for a significant period of time," he added.

"A muscle injury, completely innocuous when striking the ball, and it looks like he has a tear.

"We will be a bit more specific on that, but the fact of the matter is we are going to be without our captain."

McGinn had a brief spell out injured at the start of the season but has since played in each of the Lanarkshire side's seven league games.

Well have enjoyed a fine start to the campaign, sitting fourth in the Premiership with a League Cup semi-final against Rangers, which McGinn will miss, on the way.

That is despite Kettlewell enduring significant injury problems throughout the season, with Sam Nicholson, Jack Vale, Harry Paton, Callum Slattery and Ross Callachan among a lengthy absentees list.

"We can't do anything about it," the Well boss said.

"We work very closely with our sports science and medical staff who are top drawer, absolute masters of their trade, but sometimes that happens in football, you get injuries.

"We have tried to mitigate those circumstances, but sometimes it happens."

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Lennon Miller's second goal for Motherwell against St Mirren in September stood after being reviewed for a possible handball, and Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum said the VAR officials were "unable to find the evidence to be categorical" about a foul.

Later in the same game, Well's Dan Casey handled the ball on the goal-line to deny Killian Phillips a goal and was shown a straight red.

Mark O'Hara had the resulting penalty saved in the 2-1 defeat.

"In our opinion, this is the correct call," said Collum. "It's a very good piece of teamwork between the assistant referee and the referee.

"There's nothing there for the VAR to think that the referee has made an error there in terms of showing a red card."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Motherwell return to domestic action this weekend in a good place. They've won their past three games, including a big victory away at Easter Road last time out, and sit fourth in the Premiership table.

Despite missing key players through injury, the squad are finding a way to win games and manager Stuart Kettlewell will be eager for that to continue.

Within that squad, there’s an academy player who’s more than playing his part. For once I’m not talking about Lennon Miller, although he’s clearly an influential player for Motherwell and deserves all the plaudits coming his way.

However, Ewan Wilson has been impressive at left-wing back. He’s been handed his chance and, boy, is he taking it.

So far he’s started all of Motherwell’s 13 matches this season, holding his own in the league and cup competitions.

He was also away on international duty with the Scotland Under-21 squad this past fortnight, so just like team-mate Miller he’s receiving much deserved attention and recognition.

He’s slightly older than Miller, in fact he turns 20 next month, and he’s already had to show a bit of resilience in his career.

After a loan spell with Stirling Albion didn’t work out, Wilson embraced a move to non-league Beith Juniors.

He spent the remainder of last season there, helping them to win the league, while gaining valuable game time and experience.

Fair to say it’s served him incredibly well, with Motherwell now reaping the benefits.

With domestic football making its return this weekend, we want to know what you're looking for from your side.

Motherwell have made an excellent start to the season, sitting fourth in the Premiership with a League Cup semi-final on the way.

But is there anything they should look to build on between now and November's international break?

Give us your thoughts here, external.

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

I’m not saying I manifested Aston Oxborough’s contract extension, however...

I am beyond delighted at the news and once you see the stats that he has not only made the most saves this season out of all top-flight goalkeepers, his numbers compared to Liam Kelly's last season are eye-opening.

Not only did we extend his deal, but getting Tawanda Maswanhise tied down to 2026 with an option to extend is a phenomenal piece of business. He has been the answer we never knew we needed to a lot of our issues up front. Far too often we drag our heels with offering extensions or new deals, but the club's been on the ball this time.

With momentum behind us, Dundee at home feels like it could be a walk in the park but I won’t allow us to get ahead of ourselves. Dundee won’t make it easy for us, but I do ultimately believe we will get the better of them.

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

In addition to the summer exits of attacking duo Theo Bair and Blair Spittal, outsiders perhaps felt Motherwell also had a job on their hands replacing goalkeeper Liam Kelly.

The answer had been sitting on their bench for the past two seasons.

In fact, not only has Aston Oxborough proven to be a competent replacement for Kelly, who left to re-join Rangers in the summer, his numbers suggest he is going to be a significant upgrade.

The 26-year-old has played a vital part in the Lanarkshire side's early season success - so much so, the club rushed to get the keeper to pen a contract extension.

Signing from Norwich in the summer 2022, Oxborough's Premiership debut did not come until the opening day of the current campaign.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell hailed the patience of the keeper, who has had to wait in the wings while Kelly underperformed last term.

He has since gone on to play every minute in the league this season and is posting some of the best goalkeeping numbers in the division.

Granted, the sample size is still relatively small, but - according to FotMob, external - Oxborough's save percentage of 78% is only bettered by Celtic's Kasper Schmeichel (93%).

Meanwhile, his xG prevented of 3.4 is a league high. Essentially, this means he has already avoided conceding three more goals than he should have based on the quality of chances he has faced.

Compared with Kelly's numbers from last season, Oxborough's save percentage is already 16% higher, plus the Rangers keeper's xG prevented was a league low of -8.4.

In the past two weekends, Oxborough has arguably been Motherwell's player of the match in back-to-back games, saving a penalty in the win over St Mirren before pulling off a string of stunning stops at Hibernian on Saturday.

With the Fir Park side currently fourth in the Premiership and a League Cup semi-final on the way, sustaining that performance level will be key if Kettlewell's side are to make this season a memorable one.