Danny Lennon has a pretty good record against Motherwell - something made all the more remarkable considering they've finished as the best non Old Firm side for the past two seasons. Before this season he'd lost just once to them at home and once away - although we'd only beaten them once at each venue too. That record changed at the start of the season when we lost in Paisley in September, but it's still an impressive run. We're overdue a win at Fir Park, having not won there for a few years, and the fact their pitch is nowhere near as bad as it used to be should help us out tomorrow.
As with most games though we need to be at our best if we're to have any hope, especially with Motherwell going along fairly well in the league. We have to take what chances come our way as their defence is pretty solid and won't give us much to work with, while if we make any mistakes at the back they have players that will punish us. If we avoid doing that and play as we know we can then there's no reason we can't come away with a result that helps Wednesday's turkey go down a little more easily - and a win would make it go down as easily as Peter Pawlett bursting into the box...
Last week wasn't a particularly good result or performance. We were architects of our own downfall, helping Aberdeen on their way to victory in a game that was always going to be difficult, and couldn't really have any complaints about the result. It was our first loss since we went to Tannadice in October and only our second since we lost to Hibs in September so there's no need to panic just yet. However, we have to put in a much better performance tomorrow and show that last week was just a blip, a one off, rather than a return to the bad old ways we saw in the early months of the season.
Usually when you lose a game there's a temptation to make big changes to the side. We probably won't see that tomorrow - partly because we don't have many players to bring in, but also because we hadn't been doing too badly before the loss at Pittodrie. Danny Lennon will likely just write it off as a bad day at the office when too many players underperformed, with better things expected tomorrow. Marian Kello and Marc McAusland both made mistakes but are likely to keep their places in the team.
What is more concerning is our lack of goals. We've failed to score in our last three league games, although in between them we hit five in two games against Queen of the South. Do we need to change things further up the park? Perhaps someone like Gary Harkins or Jake Caprice should be brought in to give us something different, or maybe we could start Thomas Reilly to give Steven Thompson some help up front. The problem when you do that is who to drop, as the midfield is doing well for the most part. Ideally we'd bring Gary Teale in but he, like David Barron, will be out for the foreseeable future.
Stuart McCall had the chance to go to Sheffield United in the summer but decided to turn it down. It seemed a strange move as, after taking Motherwell to second last season, he looked to have done as much as he could at Fir Park (in the league at least). He's a former United player and they're one of the bigger clubs in League One, so it seemed the ideal move. Hindsight shows he was probably right to stay put as the Blades opted for David Weir, who was sacked a few months later while Motherwell are fifth in the table. However, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Albion Rovers and it seems a few fans are starting to grumble about their manager.
We have to watch out for the former player curse tomorrow - although it's already hurt us this season. John Sutton scored the only goal when we played Motherwell in Paisley in September and it's not the first time he's done that in his time at Fir Park either. I'd have loved us to re-sign him in the summer after he sensibly decided to leave Hearts, but he opted to go back to Motherwell and has scored eight goals since. Estonian Henry Anier has looked pretty handy at times and has formed a decent partnership with Sutton that seems to have everything - strength, movement, height and a handy finishing ability. That all means Bob McHugh has been on the fringes once again, although comments from a few Motherwell fans suggest he's better than a sub than a starter. The same can arguably be said for Craig Moore, who scored with his first touch as a sub against Hearts earlier this season!
The Motherwell defence has been a bit leaky at times, which is a bit odd as it looks pretty handy on paper. Shaun Hutchison and Stephen McManus have struck up a good partnership since the latter came in during the close season, while Simon Ramsden has taken over from Tom Hateley at rightback. Steven Hammell is still one of the best leftbacks in the league but Zaine Francis-Angol is an exciting, if a little raw, prospect for that position - although he can also do a job in midfield. The form of that lot means Fraser Kerr and Adam Cummings have had a watching brief for much of the season. Lee Hollis and Gunnar Nielsen have shared goalkeeping duties but both are injured, with Dundee's Dan Twardzik being hastily borrowed for last week's win over Ross County.
James McFadden was terrific following his return to Motherwell last season but seems to be struggling a bit now and there are a few folk who wonder if keeping him in the team is detrimental to the rest of the side - last week's win while he was a sub suggesting they might be right. However, to me he's one of those players who can come up with a moment of genius that turns a game at any point, no matter how bad he is, and you can just about get away with one of them in your team. That's certainly true if you have Keith Lasley anchoring the midfield, although Paul Lawson has struggled since arriving in the summer from Ross County. Iain Vigurs has done a bit better, with Stuart Carswell usually making up the rest of the midfield as winger Lionel Ainsworth - who is on loan from Rotherham - has been used sparingly.
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