Motherwell

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Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says speculation surrounding the "outstanding" Lennon Miller is going nowhere as he is "getting better and better every day".

Reports this week suggested Rangers are keeping a close eye on the teenage midfielder, who is already an integral part of the Fir Park side at the age of just 17.

When asked about the Ibrox club's potential interest, Kettlewell said: "I see speculation continuing on someone who is an outstanding footballer.

"Clubs will be linked with him constantly, they have been since he was a young kid. We signed him on a long-term deal for a reason.

"He knows this is a brilliant place for him to play and he's getting better and better every day."

Kettlewell also confirmed there has been interest in striker Theo Bair, whose Canada side were eliminated from the Copa America last four by Argentina this week.

Bair, who scored 15 goals in an impressive campaign last term after a tough spell at St Johnstone, did not feature for his national side at the tournament.

However, his Motherwell boss still hopes it was a valuable experience for the 24-year-old and says he would "love to have him here this season and beyond".

"But that situation is out of my control," he adds. "We did a lot of work to get Theo to the club and did a lot of work while he's been here.

"We've shown him a lot of faith and a lot of trust, but he's repaid us as well. We'd love to have him here this season and beyond - but if people offer big numbers, we're a selling club."

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been speaking to the media prior to the start of his side's competitive campaign on Saturday.

The Fir Park club host Edinburgh City on Saturday in the League Cup groups.

Here are the key lines:

• Kettlewell says the squad "hit all our markers" in pre-season and he is "positive and looking forward" to the game on Saturday.

• He confirms "everyone who is fit and available can play 90 minutes" but there are "five or six niggles to important players".

• One of those is new right-back Johnny Koutroumbis, who will be "out for a couple of months" with a calf problem.

• Kettlewell confirms there has been interest in Canada striker Theo Bair and says the forward will "come back a better player" after his Copa America experience.

• On speculation linking Lennon Miller with Rangers, the Motherwell boss says "clubs will be linked with him continuously" as the teenage midfielder is "getting better and better every day".

• Kettlewell still expects "more to be done" in the transfer window and has made it clear "we are still short of two or three".

Rangers are interested in Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller and had the 17-year-old watched in last weekend's friendly win at Livingston. (Football Scotland), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

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Motherwell fans, what do you think would constitute success under Stuart Kettlewell in the coming season?

Is staying up the primary objective, or would you set your sights higher?

Have your say here, external.

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Theo Bair was an unused substitute as Canada were knocked out of Copa America.

Jesse Marsch's side suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of reigning champions Argentina.

The Motherwell striker was an unused substitute in all of Canada's Copa America matches.

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Moses Ebiye struck twice as Motherwell continued their warm-up for the new season with a 4-2 win at Linlithgow Rose.

However, the game was all square after 85 minutes when the League Two side levelled for a second time through PJ McGiff.

A Lennon Miller penalty gave the Premiership side a half-time lead following a foul on Filip Stuparevic.

In what was a testimonial game for centre-half Gary Thom, Alan Sneddon hit back for Rose, also from a spot-kick.

Ebiye converted from a Harry Paton cross before McGiff shot past substitute goalkeeper Aston Oxborough.

Ebiye replied immediately though, finding the top corner of the net with a fine curling strike.

And Paton completed the scoring on a rain-soaked night, finishing off after good work from teenager Dylan Wells.

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Former Motherwell chairman Brian McCafferty says approving the Wild Sheep investment proposal would put the Fir Park club's "financial future at major risk".

From Monday, Well Society members will have two weeks to vote on whether they want to accept or reject a deal the board of the fans' group has opposed.

"I find it strange that there is a drive to rush this deal through when the club is financially stable," said McCafferty, who has chaired Motherwell and Well Society boards.

"By the looks of the Wild Sheep plan, it's a massive gamble and I urge Motherwell fans to reject the offer."

The Motherwell executive board has recommended shareholders accept the £1.95m offer from the Barmack family for a 47% stake.

On Monday, the club's current chairman Jim McMahon reiterated his stance that "you get the best deal when you don't need the money".

"This is an attempt to move away from season-to-season budgeting to a more sustainable basis," the statement adds.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell wanted his side to show more of a second-half "spark" in their 2-1 pre-season friendly victory over Livingston.

The Fir Park boss did admit that not too much importance is placed on the scoreline in these games, however.

“I thought from our side of things the first half was very good and that we controlled the pace of the game and had one or two opportunities in there,” he told club media.

“Young Dylan Wells was quite bright within that, a couple of opportunities fell his way and I felt he was involved in a lot there.

“I always speak about your striker scoring goals at this stage of the season so it was good to see Moses [Ebiye] hitting the back of the net. I also thought we looked really secure defensively.

“I felt that we came out looking slack and sloppy in the second half, it was the same group of players so it’s not that excuse of making changes.

“I know we don’t put emphasis into the scoreline in pre-season but I wanted to see us come out with more of a spark in the second half and still control the pace of the game and potentially look to create one or two more chances.

“I wanted us to be far more aggressive out of possession to turn it over, to try and create those opportunities which we had done in the first half.”

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Motherwell continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 win over Livingston at Fir Park.

Shane Blaney got on the end of an Andy Halliday free-kick to open the scoring for the hosts.

The host's second goal came from a free kick, with Moses Ebiye this time getting on the end of Halliday's delivery. The foul, on Lennon Miller, had initially been given as a penalty but the decision was reversed after the assistant referee said it was outside of the area.

Livingston, preparing for life in the Championship after their relegation, pulled a goal back through Tete Yengi in the second half.

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Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell spoke to Sportsound this afternoon and gave the lowdown on his squad's pre-season preparations, new signings, and today's friendly with Livingston.

“It’s been going great, really well," he said.

“We feel we got a really good start to last season, topping our group in the league cup and starting of the league campaign very, very well, I think we started with three wins and some draws in there so the reparation and the plans been very, very similar.

"It's been littered with one or two injuries which is common practice now unfortunately in modern football but hopefully, we get over that situation, we’re missing six today for this game against Livingston which will be a good test and a good preparation for moving forward to next week.

On new arrivals, he adds: “I put some of them into different categories, one of them is carrying an injury, Johnny Koutroumbis coming over from Australia. He’s somebody that we identified that would be an athletic player with real quality, probably playing on the right-hand side even though he’s versatile.

“We look at the likes of Ross Callaghan, most people will know he’s had a tough time and everyone in Scottish football knows he’s had a tough time with injury but someone we know and remember performing well for Ross County and Hamilton.

“Then ones that start to come into the equation are the Tom Sparrows, Filip Stuparevic, it’s just a case of integrating some of these guys into the feel of Scottish football.

" It’s a different feeling, sometimes you get players coming from down south thinking this is going to be really easy going to Scotnad and think they’ll cruise it and I think it can be anything but that. So it’s just trying to get them a feel for what this football club’s about.

"I’ve got three or four teenagers, academy graduates, starting in this game today which I’m immensely proud of.

"The reason why they’re playing is that they’ve earned the right over one or two because their levels are high throughout pre-season and I want to see them against a proper side in Livingston."

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Motherwell striker Theo Bair's Canada will face Lionel Messi's Argentina in Tuesday's Copa America semi-final after they continued their surprise run with a penalty shoot-out victory over Venezuela.

The 24-year-old was again an unused substitute as the sides drew 1-1 after extra time in Arlington, Texas, before the competition debutants prevailed at the AT&T Stadium.

Jesse Marsch's team had headed into the tournament as the lowest seeds in their group and again were underdogs against a Venezuela side who had won all three of their group games.

However, Canada won the shoot-out 4-3 despite a missed penalty from substitute Liam Millar, the Preston North End forward who had a spell with Kilmarnock from Liverpool.

In New Jersey, they will have to avenge a 2-0 group-stage defeat by World Cup winners Argentina, who also needed penalties to defeat Ecuador after a 1-1 draw, if they are to reach the final.