Motherwell

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Jens Berthel Askou wants Motherwell to sharpen up defensively as he insisted last weekend's controversy against Falkirk would not derail their progress.

The Steelmen led 1-0 at half-time but were denied another first-half goal when Ibrahim Said was penalised for a foul on Brad Spencer after a VAR intervention, despite appearing to simply shield the ball from his opponent.

Motherwell's frustration was compounded when Falkirk turned the game on its head to win 2-1.

Askou was reluctant to divulge details of conversations, but Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum reportedly apologised to the club over the decision.

The Motherwell boss said: "There are some people in the club who have been in contact and I would say nothing of what I've watched again or have heard from even more clever people than me around the rule book has led me to call Ibby into my office and say, 'I need you to do something else in that situation'.

"I will tell him any day of the week that he should do the same thing. And then we'll just hope that it will go our way next time. I expect it to do."

The defeat means Motherwell have lost 12 points from winning positions in their past six Scottish Premiership matches.

"We can't do anything more about the game than look for patterns, anything recurring that we need to look into," said Askou.

"The bottom line of that is that there are things we cannot control that will sometimes not go our way, and the answer to that is it's not going to stop us going where we want to go. It might set us back a week or create a little bump on the road, but it's not going to stop us.

"And then there are things that we can control and that we have to improve.

"We've conceded in general a little bit too many goals. We are a team that can score goals and create chances, and we will score more goals when we get even sharper.

"The big thing for us is to be even more effective defensively as well. Be stronger and more disciplined, sharper and just better individually and as a group in terms of taking the moments around the game and really look after them and make sure we don't give away more goals than we have to.

"That's something that we have been working on and now we've enhanced that focus during this week."

Motherwell winger Elijah Just admits he was warned to be wary of a move to Scottish football, but has exceeded his expectations with his early-season form.

The New Zealand international joined in the summer from Danish top-flight club Horsens, where Jens Berthel Askou previously managed, and has already made an impact at the Fir Park club with three assists - more than any other Well player - in six league appearances so far.

Askou's side fell to 10th in the table at the weekend after a 2-1 loss against Falkirk but Just believes success is not far away as he adapts to the Scottish game after seeking advice from contacts who have played here.

"Anyone I spoke to kind of said the same thing," the 25-year-old told club media.

"They said to be careful going to Scotland because it may not be best suited to me. I've exceeded my expectations so far in terms of how well we've played, but the most important bit is being effective in getting results.

"I do think the way we're playing is conducive to getting good results, and it's so impressive to see the fans on board. Everyone can feel the belief they have in us, which is a huge help.

"Coming into the start of the season, there were things I had to prove, which was making sure I was working hard and fighting for everything.

"As a smaller player, especially in Scotland, you can't just be the player with the ball. So I'm making a real effort to work hard off the ball and fight to help with what the team needs.

"The players are doing so much hard work at the back to get me in the right positions, so when I get it, I try to be confident. It hasn't been thinking on my part, just enjoying it.

"I think we need to be more ruthless against teams that sit deep. The way we play is dependent on us; if we play well, we don't need much luck to get the job done. We'll always have a good chance.

"There's positive we can pull from each game so far, and we're just a tiny bit away from clicking fully."

New Zealand will play in the World Cup next summer for the first time in 16 years but Just insists his focus for now remains on the Scottish top flight.

"The scope and the magnitude of the World Cup won't hit home until I'm there," he added.

"At the moment, it's not looking too far ahead and just looking after the club games.

"There's a lot of travel involved when it comes to playing for New Zealand, even more now I'm in Scotland. But I'll do whatever to play for my country."

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

How is it possible that we are playing some of the most entertaining and best football in the country yet are incapable of winning?

I have no complaints about our tactics or style of play, but something isn't clicking.

The harsh reality is we can't afford to keep dropping points. The latest disappointment was galling as we put ourselves in a commanding position at home to Falkirk only to collapse to defeat in the second half.

It makes Livingston away this Saturday then Dundee United at home the following weekend so much more important as Hampden and the League Cup semi-final looms on the horizon.

A couple of wins in the next two games would be huge. We need to make sure we don't lose belief in ourselves because once that happens it is a slippery slope further down the table.

Watch highlights as Falkirk come from behind to stun Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your thoughts after Motherwell's 2-1 defeat to Falkirk.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Robert: It's becoming a trope, that we receive all the plaudits but none of what matters - points. Our football is joyous to watch at times, yet we ended up getting a proper lesson from the Bairns yesterday, and congratulations to them. Played off the park in the first half, John McGlynn clearly shook things up at half time. Where was our fight when Falkirk equalised early in the second half?

Edward: Once again we implode! It's all fine and good playing the best football in Scotland but the mentality in the last 30 minutes is wrong. We're leading with beautiful football but we need to lock it up towards the end to ensure the win. Don't need to play perfect stuff to score more if we remain open to concede. The result yesterday was a disgrace!

George: Wonderful first half, and a shocking decision to disallow Ibrahim Said's goal. But that's not an excuse for yet again letting a lead slip. A worrying trend that we need to stamp out. Still optimistic for our season though.

Alan: A wonderful first half where Motherwell dominated and they should have gone in 3-0 up. The second half was woeful with missed chances a noted lack of penetration and an inability to take any advantage offered to them. Perhaps their domination from the first half resulted in a complacency in the second half which was their undoing. It must be an attitude thing which needs to be addressed.

Andrew: Hope this is a wake up call. Need to stop wasting chances. Game should have been in the bag by half time.

Mark: The second half was probably some of the worst football I have seen Motherwell play in a long time. Giving balls away like Christmas Day and handing the game to Falkirk. Improvement needed for Livingston. Although that being said, I thought Tawanda Maswanhise and Said played very well, just lacking a clinical edge in attack.

Scott Arfield smashed in a late winner for Falkirk as they came from behind against profligate Motherwell to pick up their second win of the Premiership season.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou: "I'm extremely disappointed with a couple of things. Happy with the first half, I thought we were excellent and scored two beautiful goals. We should have scored another one and I don't think I'm ever going to understand how they disallowed that goal. That's one of the worst VAR decisions I've seen in my career so far - until it got beaten in the second half when Paul McGinn gets pulled just before he's about to hit the ball. That's how it is.

"Looking at our own performance, the first half was fantastic but we were way too messy in the second half. We played an open game when we shouldn't and that let them score some crazy goals. We didn't deliver the quality we should when we put a little bit of pressure on them. We made some bad decisions in the beginning of the second half, we didn't do what we set up to do. We forced our transitions and forced our game on the ball, some technical mistakes and then we weren't good enough at repairing it. We need to perform both halves like the second and we didn't do that today.

"We show up on Monday and then we look at what we need to do better. You move on. Right now we all need to clear our heads a little bit but Monday is a new week, there's a game we need to win next week and that's what we'll set out to do."

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Motherwell have Stephen Welsh, Elijah Just, Tom Sparrow and Callum Hendry back in contention with Callum Slattery set to rejoin full training on Monday. Sam Nicholson, Filip Stuparevic (both knee), Eseosa Sule, Jordan McGhee (both thigh) and Zach Robinson (Achilles) are long-term absentees.

Falkirk's Sam Hart has recovered from a bout of concussion. Aidan Nesbitt, Ethan Ross, Jamie Sneddon remain sidelined along with Coll Donaldson, who has had abdominal surgery and is expected to be out until Christmas.

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Motherwell midfielder Oscar Priestman is getting used to Jens Berthel Askou's "relentless" style of play but is excited for another game on Saturday.

The 22-year-old joined from Australian side Western Sydney in the summer and has made four appearances for the Fir Park club so far.

After narrowly missing out on a draw against champions Celtic just before the international break, Priestman and his teammates are ready to get back on the pitch and show what they can do.

"Especially after a little break everyone has come back refreshed and reinvigorated," he said.

"We can't wait to get back out there and hopefully get a win.

"It's still early in the season and we're building each day but I can see there's been improvement in the time I've been there.

"We'll just try and get better and better and I think once it fully clicks we'll be really good."

Askou's side have been praised for their brave, attacking style of play, particularly in the game against Celtic when Motherwell stuck to their approach and played out from the back.

Priestman says he's been enjoying a new style, even if there's challenges.

"Especially back home I played in a different system but there is that relentless nature to keep going," he added.

"We have our style and we'll stick to it but it's exciting to play in that system."

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell have sold more than 7,000 tickets for their Premier Sports Cup semi-final against St Mirren.

The Fir Park club are in their second League Cup last four in the space of two seasons, but have sold 600 tickets more than they had by this point 12 months ago for their 2-1 defeat by Rangers.

The Hampden tie is on 1 November (1730 GMT), with manager Jens Berthel Askou refusing to join in with the excitement just yet.

"We'll probably sell quite a few more, which is amazing," he said.

"A lot of people are looking forward to that, we're focusing on the next job that's on Saturday.

"Obviously we know it's in the calendar, but we're not spending that much energy on it now, it's up to you guys and our fans and our staff around, the first team, and we'll get to that when we're there."

Askou welcomes back Elijah Just, Callum Hendry and Tom Sparrow back in full training for Saturday's visit of Premiership newcomers Falkirk, with Callum Slattery also partially back.

"It's just raised the level of the intensity and the quality that we're able to produce in training sessions," he said. "They look really, really eager and really hungry, so it's great to have them back.

"A lot of good players out there competing and lifting the level, which is extremely positive.

"We've been waiting for a couple of weeks, so good times."

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou has been speaking to the media before his team's Premiership meeting with Falkirk on Saturday.

Here's the key points:

• The club have sold over 7,000 tickets for their Premier Sports Cup semi-final with St Mirren on 1 November.

• Elijah Just, Tom Sparrow and Callum Hendry are back in training. It has raised the level, intensity and quality of training.

• Callum Slattery is also partially back in training but will be back fully next week.

• Performance against Celtic gives confidence, despite losing 3-2, that they can win next time the two teams meet.

• Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is now getting the rewards for his effort and the team are looking sharper in attack, but there is still more to come.

• All focus is on this weekend's match against Falkirk, and he'll leave others outside the group to get excited about the prospect of their trip to Hampden Park.

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• This will be the first top-flight match between Motherwell and Falkirk since the Bairns enjoyed a 1-0 win in April 2010. Indeed, Falkirk have only lost one of their last six top-flight games against the Steelmen (W3 D2).

• Motherwell are unbeaten in nine home league games against newly promoted opposition (W6 D3) since a 0-1 defeat to Dundee United in August 2020. Their last two such games have seen 13 goals, drawing 3-3 with Dundee in December 2023 and beating Dundee United 4-3 in December 2024.

• Motherwell are unbeaten in eight home league games (W4 D4), their longest run in the top-flight on Opta's records (from 1998-99).

• Although Falkirk have lost two of their three away league games this season, their only Scottish Premiership win in 2025-26 came on the road at Aberdeen in August (1-0).

• Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has scored (three) or assisted (one) all four of Motherwell's goals in their last two league games. The last player to be directly involved in two-plus goals in three successive Scottish Premiership appearances while playing for a side other than the Old Firm clubs (Celtic/Rangers) was Liam Boyce in February 2020.

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

Now that tickets for the League Cup semi-final have gone on general sale, it's to shine a light on the cost of this game for fans.

With tickets for my family of four combined with our bus tickets coming to £170 before on-the-day expenses such as food, drinks and match programmes, the expense is huge.

I am a Motherwell season-ticket holder and can drive to Fir Park easily, but the average away day can cost up to £50 depending on who we are playing and the transport available. It all adds up.

As football grows more expensive, it is isolating more people than it is drawing in. More fans, myself included, are making the decision to miss games because of the cost rather than scheduling conflicts.

Football is a business and, like any other industry, it has suffered from the pandemic and cost of living.

I fully understand and empathise with clubs that have been hit hard. When you see clubs going through financial difficulties and potential liquidation, it is tragic, but wealth in Scottish football is not spread equally between the Scottish FA and the SPFL's 42 clubs.

And prices continue to increase for Scotland supporters travelling to Hampden or abroad.

One game at the national stadium could come to more than £200 for fans who live outside the central belt.

Times are tough for a lot of people and you are not any less of a fan if you cannot make it to games because of your own personal circumstances.

I hope we can sell out our allocation at Hampden but I don't want it to come at a horrible cost or with fans feeling guilty if that doesn't happen.

Whether you're cheering the team on from the stands, at home or in the pub, you will be always be a true Steelman at heart.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

"If you want to be entertained, go to the cinema." A famous quote from former Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson when once questioned about his team's style of play.

It's a sentiment Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou presumably doesn't agree with.

His team are entertaining on the pitch, with the players adapting well to his philosophy and for the most part putting it into practice.

The fans are lapping it up and Askou has also been full of praise for his team. Even when "a moment of bad decision-making" has proved costly, as it did against Celtic on Sunday, he seems able to cast it aside, seeing it as a consequence of the style he wants his players to embrace.

The costly mistake at Celtic Park came when goalkeeper Calum Ward passed the ball straight to Benjamin Nygren, who accepted the kind invitation to equalise in the 69th minute.

Salt was rubbed into Motherwell wounds when Celtic snatched victory with Daizen Maeda's injury-time header.

Afterwards the Motherwell manager calmly said such errors "come now and then".

He has accepted that, but what about the supporters? They seem heavily invested in Askou's revolution. The odd disappointment they can probably handle, as long as it doesn't become a frequent eventuality.

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Elijah Just joins up with New Zealand as they face Poland and Norway in friendlies.

Tawanda Maswanhise is part of the Zimbabwe squad as they take on South Africa and Lesotho in World Cup qualifiers.

Regan Charles-Cook is with Grenada for a friendly double-header against the British Virgin Islands and Cuba.

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

The unbeaten run is over - but we were the better team at Celtic Park.

That's not something I thought I would ever say, but it just shows how far we have grown in a short time under Jens Berthel Askou.

The performance augurs well as we build towards the League Cup semi-final against St Mirren on 1 November.

Admittedly it wasn't a perfect display as a bizarre decision from Calum Ward gifted Celtic their equaliser, but I'm not mad at him for it.

We genuinely should have beaten both Rangers and Celtic this season. Lack of focus and attention is what has ultimately cost us.

Going into another international break at this stage gives Askou more time on the training pitch with the players before a run of three league games - two at home - then the big trip to Hampden.

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Manager Jens Berthel Askou is confident his Motherwell side will make further progress with the help of returning players after his injury-hit team's 14-match unbeaten run came to an end.

The Fir Park club were on course for a first win Celtic Park since 2015 after Apostolos Stamatelopoulos hit a double either side of half-time but were beaten 3-2 in stoppage-time.

It was Askou's first defeat as Motherwell boss, but he believes the team will bounce back stronger.

"I think this team will grow," said the manager, who was without 10 first team players.

"We've had a lot of our really big players, who were really important players for us in the beginning of the season, out for a while.

"We've had good results and strong performances in that period and I'm confident with them coming back over the next week or so that we will have even more firepower for the next period, and especially the next time we play Celtic."

Motherwell will remain without long-term absentees Sam Nicholson, Filip Stuparevic, Eseosa Sule, Jordan McGhee and Zach Robinson when they face Falkirk after the international break.

Stamatelopoulos, Ibrahim Said and Johnny Koutroumbis all went off with muscle issues at Celtic Park while Elliot Watt and Tawanda Maswanhise were also struggling towards the end, but the initial signs were that the problems were "fatigue and cramp".

But captain Paul McGinn returned from injury for the match on Sunday.

"It was fantastic to have him with us. You couldn't really see that he's been out of training and games for four weeks," Askou added.

"So it's amazing to have players of that quality coming back and then being able to deliver from day one.

"Now we have Tom Sparrow, Eli Just, Callum Hendry, Callum Slattery, really good players for us coming back within the next week or two, which is extremely positive.

"That's why, even though I would have loved to sit here with a win, even a draw, I'm still positive in what's coming."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Despite an impressive performance against Celtic, Motherwell were undone by a late Daizen Maeda goal to leave Parkhead with nothing but they have one player in my team of the week.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos took his first goal against Celtic superbly well, showing perfect timing, bravery and with the boots flying. Showed he had ice in the veins too to fire the Steelmen ahead from the spot. Unfortunate to be on the losing side.

We asked for your views on Motherwell's 3-2 defeat against Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

David: It's now too many crazy mistakes from Calum Ward and time for a change. We had Celtic on the ropes, with the match there for the winning until the ball was played directly to Benjamin Nygren. Years since I have left Parkhead feeling this deflated.

Gary: No point playing great football when you have a goalkeeper consistently costing us goals at big moments. Six points lost due to errors from Ward. Aston Oxborough needs to be given a chance.

John: Absolutely gutted with the manner we gifted Celtic their second goal. We were totally fine until that point and again some of our football was a joy to behold. Totally confident that in the next stage of the season our football will pay off even more.

Matt: It's the hope that kills you. Good on Jens Berthel Askou and the team for not changing the approach despite the opposition. Some great football at times and Celtic looked like they were there for the taking, but alas. No doubt there will be disappointed, but this is the most fun I've had as a Motherwell supporter in years. It's also important to remember how much Askou has done in such a short amount of time.

Andrew: Ward needs dropped now. Simple as that.

Robert: We threw it away today. All our discipline and good play ruined by players switching off. Oxborough should be between the sticks, as Ward is always liable for what happened.

George: A difficult one to take. However I'd rather see us playing our own game and trying to win the game in this way, rather than packing the box and simply hoping we get something. Continues to bode well for the rest of season.

Derek: Hugely gutted to lose the game in the manner we did, a costly error from Ward which is a shame as he had made a few great saves in the game. You can see we are ultimately lacking quality off the bench with the likes of Callum Slattery, Elijah Just, Tom Sparrow and Callum Hendry all missing. We need guys like them fit and available if we are going to get results in games like this.

James: Gutted we left with nothing. The second goal was a nightmare. Lots of plus points but ultimately no points. At least we had hope for a bit, it was the first time in a long time we had that at Celtic Park.

Watch the highlights as Daizen Maeda's dramatic late winner secured all three points for Celtic against Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

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