Motherwell

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

A last-minute winner and a viral video - quite the weekend for the Well.

It was nice of the club to confirm no microphones were hurt or damaged during the course of the post-match content.

Hopefully the same can be said for the poor commentator, who was subjected to abuse from the home fans after the last-gasp goal.

Jokes and that video aside, Moses Ebiye and his last-minute winners are some of the most joyous yet stressful things to experience.

The striker keeps on popping up with big moments and it is now three wins on the bounce.

His ability has definitely developed and now I'd like to see him get a chance in the starting XI, especially for the League Cup quarter-final against Dundee United since Tony Watt won't be available.

Motherwell fans, we asked for your views after Saturday's 2-1 win over St Johnstone.

Here's what some of you had to say:

James: Another away victory. Will take it any week, no matter the opposition. Superb.

Edward: Why do we always leave it so late? We commanded the majority of the game yet let them back in. Why not press for more goals after going ahead instead of sitting back and trying to do the opposition on the break?

Dimitar Mitov (Aberdeen): Outstanding penalty save was as invaluable to Aberdeen continuing their perfect start to the season.

Alistair Johnston (Celtic): Standout performer every week. Brings so much energy, power and invention to this Celtic side in defence and attack.

Liam Scales (Celtic): Outstanding at the back. Shames the doubters continually by never putting a foot wrong.

Dan Casey (Motherwell): Constant menace in the St Johnstone box, always committed. Plays with fire in his belly.

Ross Graham (Dundee United): Slotting in as a square peg in a round hole at left-back, the centre-back has become one of United's most solid performers in recent weeks and scored the winner at Hearts.

Topi Keskinen (Aberdeen): Direct and impactful performance against Ross County. Looks to have really exciting potential.

Callum McGregor (Celtic): Could have pencilled him in before the match even started. The commander-in-chief of a team in full command of every match they play right now. Another superb performance and another great goal.

Lyall Cameron (Dundee): Plenty of life after Luke McCowan with this young man in the Dundee midfield. An assist and always full of guile.

Daizen Maeda (Celtic): Gave Rangers captain James Tavernier another torrid time. His energy and pace on the left gives Celtic such an advantage over Rangers.

Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic): Have run out of superlatives for his movement. Phenomenal to have a player like this in Scottish football. Lighting up the game for Celtic in the final third.

Kevin Nisbet (Aberdeen): What a way to win over the Dons fans. Felt like a statement moment when he struck home the winner deep in injury time in Dingwall. Bojan who?

Celtic brought in £10.59m more in the summer transfer market than they spent, Aberdeen made a profit of £2.67m, Motherwell were up £1.34m and Heart of Midlothian £1.01m, but Hibernian spent £438,460 more than they brought in, while Rangers' net spend was £11.71m. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Dan Casey says a positive training environment is behind Motherwell's strong start to the league season after his late goal secured a 2-1 win away to St Johnstone.

Stuart Kettlewell's side came from behind to clinch all three points in Perth, taking them to seven points from four Premiership games.

"I just want to help the team," Casey said. "I think anyone will take a goal or an assist, it doesn't really matter as long as we get the results, and working our way up the table, we'll just go from there.

"We're a tight-knit group, training is very good. I think everyone's fighting for a place, the standard is very high and I think everyone wants the best for each other and it's one that I'm enjoying being in.

"I think everyone enjoys coming in every day and we work hard and we just want to go one games at a time and see where that takes us."

Watch highlights as Motherwell earn a dramatic late win against St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership.

Available to UK users only.

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Paul McGinn thinks Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller is the "best player he has ever played with" - according to brother Stephen - despite having featured alongside another McGinn in Scotland star John.

Miller, who turned 18 last weekend, has already made 46 senior appearances for the North Lanarkshire club and has clearly impressed his club captain since making his debut at 16 years old in August 2022.

The midfielder was limited to 20 league appearances last season after picking up an injury in November that ruled him out for three months, yet Miller was still nominated for both the SFWA and PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year awards.

"Paul describes him as the best player he's ever played with," Stephen McGinn told Sportsound.

"I did remind him he's played with John.

"What he says about Lennon Miller, everyone's aware of the quality, is he's a good team player.

"He'll buy you a free-kick, take the sting out of the game - he ticks every single box.

"Motherwell last year had a difficult spell and lots of it was them missing a 17-year-old. That's how good he is."

Motherwell snatched a late, dramatic victory over St Johnstone in Perth to win their third match in a row across all competitions.

Moses Ebiye bundled home in the 94th minute, before the hosts' defender Jack Sanders was sent off in a frenetic finale.

Motherwell had dominated much of the opening hour, Dan Casey heading them in front and Andy Halliday's terrific bending effort rule out for offside.

St Johnstone, aided by a Craig Levein triple substitution, levelled through Benjamin Kimpioka, and it looked like ending honours even before Ebiye pounced.

St Johnstone drop to eighth place, and face a trip to struggling Hibernian after the international break, while Motherwell clamber up to fourth with an enticing visit to Pittodrie next on their agenda.

St Johnstone fans, let us know your thoughts on the performance here., external

Motherwell fans, you can get in touch and share your views with this link., external

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: “What a way to win a game. You can see the emotions pouring out. It wasn’t plain sailing. We could have been far better in the first half and played much better in the second. St Johnstone scored against the run of play and from then, it was a bit of a lottery.

“My biggest frustration was there were opportunities for us to control the second half and it was a little bit frantic, but sometimes that’s what we get in the Premiership. We have scored a lot of last-minute goals through my time and that is a part of the togetherness, energy and drive to do as best as they can for the club.”

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Manager Stuart Kettlewell and assistant Stevie Frail announced new “rolling contracts” earlier on Saturday, and a third-straight win keeps the momentum rolling into the international break.

Kettlewell talks long and loud about the “non-negotiable” elements of Motherwell’s identity, and for the most part, those were present in Lanarkshire shovelfuls.

Paul McGinn remains brilliantly commanding at the back; Stephen O’Donnell is a defender rejuvenated and Tawanda Maswanhise looks a pulse-quickening find. Their football is all the more impressive considering the unenviable list of injured first-teamers.

Motherwell’s industry and organisation in defence limited St Johnstone’s opportunities, and there was more evidence of the innovative spark Kettlewell has asked his players to create. He would have been furious had his team squandered their winning position, but Moses Ebiye’s salvo ensured the feelgood bubbles on.

A trip to unbeaten Aberdeen on 14 September is a tasty prospect.

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Jane Lewis, Brian McLauchlin and Tyrone Smith round up all the deadline defying drama as the Scottish transfer window shuts.

From Celtic's record breaking signing to some high profile departures they discuss all the biggest moves in Scotland and cross to Italy to hear about the excitement as Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay move to Napoli.

Listen to the full episode here.

Motherwell field an unchanged line-up for their trip to St Johnstone, having put Hearts to the sword six days ago.

Stuart Kettlewell does introduce loan signing Jack Vale to the matchday squad, as he looks to make the first outing of his second stint at the club from the bench. Fellow new addition Jair Tavares is not involved.

The Steelmen are still battling a lengthy injury list, with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Callum Slattery, Filip Stuparevic, Harry Paton, Johnny Koutroumbis, Sam Nicholson and Shane Blaney all ruled out.

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St Mirren have completed the signing of former Motherwell striker Kevin van Veen on loan until the end of the season.

The 33-year Dutchman arrives from Groningen, having spent the latter half of last term with Kilmarnock.

During that spell, he failed to score in 13 appearances, but contributed 29 in 44 games with Motherwell in the previous campaign.

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18-year-old Luca Ross has joined League 1 Annan Athletic on a season-long loan.

The forward has made five first-team appearances for Motherwell and scored a last-minute equaliser against Ross County last term against Ross County.

Stuart Kettlewell stressed a loan move away, "is not a punishment, it's an opportunity".

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Motherwell have confirmed the season-long loan signing of Portuguese winger Jair Tavares from Hibs.

The 23-year-old joined the Easter Road club for an undisclosed fee two years from Benfica 'B', but has struggled for regular action, making 17 starts.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "Signing Jair is an excellent piece of business.

"We’ve got a player who has experience in this league, came through at a top academy at Benfica and will now get the opportunity of regular minutes here at Motherwell.

"He’s a winger who is direct, exciting and will add a lot to our team."

Hibs head coach David Gray said: "This loan gives Jair an opportunity to gain regular game time, which will benefit him at this stage of his career."

We asked for your views on where Motherwell still need to strengthen and what deals you would like completed before the transfer window closes.

Here's what some of you said:

Anon: We could still do with a creative midfielder as we are light there should we pick up any more injuries, I suspect another attacking player may also come in.

Colin: As things stand this Motherwell squad needs strengthening particularly in midfield if we want to avoid a relegation scrap. Lennon Miller is our only midfielder of any influence, so we need at the very least, two more to help him out, one defensive and one creative. If the budget extends to buying a box-to-box player with pace, then top-six beckons.

Stuart: With Callum Slatterly out we can't rely on Miller all season, I would like to see a strong midfielder with an eye for goal.

Ryan: Getting Ryan Jack in and another creative player would do me!

Norrie: Would like to see Allan Campbell return.

Gilbert: I think we are building a good team, we just need maybe another young midfielder to assist Miller, other than that I think we are quite stable.

Kevin: I would like to see a loan deal for a creative midfielder, that should cover us until Sam Nicholson and Slattery are back fit.

Ross: A midfielder might be helpful with our injury troubles. Jack has been training with us and would be a really good addition if possible. Although with Harry Paton, Nicholson and Ross Callaghan injured, perhaps a more attack-minded or creative midfielder on loan would be good - Alex Lowry from Rangers would be a great shout.

• St Johnstone have only lost one of their last nine league meetings with Motherwell (W4 D4), going down 2-0 in May 2023.

• Five of Motherwell's last seven league visits to St Johnstone have been drawn, including both of the last two, with each side winning once each in this time.

• St Johnstone are winless in 10 home league matches (D4 L6), their longest such run in the top flight since another run of 10 from April to November 2001.

• Motherwell have kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 league games, with that coming in a 0-0 draw with Ross County on matchday one this season.

• Dan Casey has recorded more interceptions (8) than any other player in the Scottish Premiership this season, while he has also made more tackles (9) and blocked more shots (4) than any other Motherwell player.

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Jack Vale is ready to pick up from where he left off after returning to Motherwell on a season-long loan from Blackburn Rovers.

The 23-year-old Welsh forward spent the second half of last term at Fir Park, scoring three times in 14 appearances.

"It's good to be back," said Vale. "I've been following all the results and everything about the club over the summer.

"The time I spent here last season was really good because I learned so much. That was only from January onwards, so I'm hoping with his move being for the season I can accomplish more.

"It should be an easy transition and I'm ready to hit the ground running."

Manager Stuart Kettlewell was thrilled to secure the return of a player who "has all the qualities to score goals at this level".

He added: "Everyone witnessed the impact he made last season. He's match fit and ready to go."

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Stuart Kettlewell is looking for Motherwell to raise their game further when they visit St Johnstone this Saturday on the back of last weekend's impressive win over Hearts.

"I think going away from home, playing against St Johnstone, it's a different test," said the Fir Park boss.

"A different challenge, different mindset, different type of game and we have to make sure that our levels are still going up.

"I stressed that after the Hearts game I'm certainly not getting carried away with one good result, one good performance.

"It built on the week before when we got into the last eight of the cup but again I think we're going to have to go and put another few percent on to that performance to gain another three points.

"I'm seeing really positive signs from within our group. I'm seeing players getting fitter, sharper and some of the new players are starting to understand what we want to do and how we want to play.

"I think as always, if you get that buy-in from players, you'll start to see a better product."

As Friday's 23:00 BST transfer deadline edges closer, where do Motherwell still need to strengthen and what deals would you like completed before the window closes?

Have your say here, external.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Lennon Miller says it is a compliment be be linked with a big clubs, but he is ignoring the speculation around his future to focus on continuing his progress at Motherwell.

The 18-year-old midfielder has reportedly attracted interest from Rangers among others after a standout breakthrough season with the Steelmen last term.

"I don't really look at it to be honest with you," Miller said of the speculation.

"It's just kind of background noise for me. I just focus on every day in here and training and then a game on Saturday.

"It’s sometimes hard to shut it out but I think my dad's been a massive help in that and keeping me away from that side of it and just focusing on the football.

"It's obviously nice people speculating and having such big clubs being in for you.

"But for me really it's just parked to one side and I want to focus on my time here, hopefully put in many more good performances and see where that takes me."

As he nears a half century of Motherwell appearances, Miller is adjusting to a more advanced role this season.

"I kind of struggled at the start the season, it was new for me being higher up the park and obviously different receiving positions and stuff like that," he added.

"But I feel like I've learned it now I'm really enjoying it. Scoring more goals and getting more assists is something I set myself at the start of the season, so being higher up the park is probably going to help that."