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Motherwell FC is today delighted to announce that midfielder Lee Lucas has signed a short-term deal with the club.

The former Swansea man has been with the club through the summer on a trial with a view to impress the manager.

And impress he did, as the 24-year-old penned a deal that keeps him with the Fir Parkers until January – with potential for the deal to be extended.

Well boss Mark McGhee said: “I’m delighted that we’re able to sign Lee – he’ll be a valuable addition to our squad.

[pullquote]We look forward to continuing to work with Lee for the duration of his contract and hopefully beyond.[/pullquote]

“As we’ve seen in recent weeks, injuries can hit at any point and Lee adds depth to the squad as well as bringing real ability and a great option. He is a technical midfielder, a good passer; a little different to what we have.”

Lucas himself said: “I’m delighted – I’ve been here a while now so it’s nice to get it sorted now and just concentrate on my football, help out the team and I just can’t wait to get involved.”

He added: “It’s been great here so far, the boys have been brilliant from day one and they helped me settle in straight away.

“Now that the contract is all sorted and done, I can just focus on my football and enjoy my time here even more.”

Jamie Semple is the latest Steelmen starlet to be called up to the national team after being included in the Scotland U16s squad to take on France.

The fifteen-year old, who attends Braidhurst, has already played for the Motherwell Under 20s as he continues to develop through the Elite Academy; this year with the Under 17s under the tutorship of Keith Lasley and Stephen McManus.

The nineteen-man Scotland squad, led by coach Brian McLaughlin, is made up of players from eight clubs – Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts, Motherwell, Hamilton Accies, Rangers, Hibs and St Mirren

[pullquote]We’re delighted Jamie has been included in the squad; he deserves it for his hard work and dedication to his football.[/pullquote]

They Scots will take on France at the Oriam, Herriot Watt University on both the 27th and 29th September.

Academy Director Scott Leitch said: “We’re delighted Jamie has been included in the squad; he deserves it for his hard work and dedication to his football.

“It’s also a feather in the cap for our Elite Academy set-up and the coaches, staff and players involved, as everyone plays their part.

“Our aim is to continue to try and identify the best talent, develop and educate them both as players and people and hopefully even more International recognition will follow.”

Mackin, MacLean and Falconer all score in a three nil win for Motherwell Under 20s in the Development League.

Stephen Craigan insists there’s more to come from his U20s side as they stormed to a 3-0 win over Dundee United tonight.

Speaking to MFC TV after the match tonight, the Northern Irishman was happy with his team as they put in a solid performance against a side full of experienced first-team players.

Despite all the positives, the manager maintained that his side can give even more going forward.

[pullquote]I felt all round tonight we were good – I think we have to be careful not to over emphasise the performance because I think we can be better.[/pullquote]

He said: “I think at times we’ve worked away really hard during games but we’ve then given away sloppy goals or cheap goals at times and our defenders then don’t get rewarded.

“I felt all round tonight we were good – I think we have to be careful not to over emphasise the performance because I think we can be better.”

He added: “I know that’s being a little harsh at times, but I think when you look at players and what they’re trying to do at times and their enthusiasm and organisation – it makes you proud as a manager at times thinking they’re trying to carry out what you’ve been trying to teach them.”

[pullquote]A clean sheet and three goals – I think the difference between this week and last week is that 33 times we made poor decisions in the final third.[/pullquote]

One of the managers main plus’ was the way his team turned their fortunes around after last weeks disappointing loss.

He said: “A clean sheet and three goals – I think the difference between this week and last week is that 33 times we made poor decisions in the final third last week and tonight we made better decisions in the final third and there’s no surprise we got goals.”

He added: “We can work our way up the pitch but for the guys up the top end of the pitch it’s the final thing that they do with the ball that counts, the final thing you do that people remember – so tonight will be remembered for three goals and all round, a good night.”

Motherwell U20s returned to winning ways as they dispatched Dundee United by three goals to nil.

Dean Brill, Dom Thomas and Luke Watt were the changes for the U20s from their defeat against Hibs last week as the Fir Parkers put in a solid showing at the Excelsior Stadium.

Despite going up against a side full of experienced first-team players, Stephen Craigan’s side looked assured and relaxed in the opening 15 minutes.

Dom Thomas enjoyed spells of possession out on the left flank, cutting in and driving at the United defence with confidence and urgency.

But there weren’t many clear cut chances despite the youngsters enjoying good spells of possession, with both keepers fairly quiet during the opening spells of the match.

The best chance of the match fell to United’s Scott Fraser, who received the ball from a cut-back that took Dean Brill out of the game.

With two ‘Well defenders rushing back, Fraser’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Barry Maguire to keep the game level.

But it didn’t take long for the ‘Well to take control of the game and in the space of two minutes they found themselves two up after half an hour.

The first was a neat finish from Mackin who fired a low, right-footed shot past Long from just inside the area.

Then, just a minute later, Mackin was involved again as he threaded a perfectly weighted ball in between the full-back and the centre-back in to the run of MacLean.

The midfielder arrived in from the left and from the angle curled with his right foot round the outstretched arm of Long and into the far corner. A wonderful goal from the youngsters.

It remained 2-0 going in to the break as Craigan’s side looked relaxed and in control.

The second period got off on a similar foot.

Just after the 50th minute, MacLean burst the length of the pitch down the right-hand side and fired a brilliant low cross in to Mackin who had travelled the distance of the park with the midfielder on the break.

Mackin so nearly took the ball in on the turn but as he attempted the shot it was just too far away from him.

On the hour mark it was so nearly three for the ‘Well.

MacLean was involved again as he made it to the touchline before looking to cut the ball back. On it’s route, Long got a touch that diverted it towards goal, but as it trickled towards the line it was hooked away to safety.

Brill’s first real save of the game was produced on the 65th minute, when substitute Murrell had an effort from just inside the area.

The first-team keeper got behind it and pushed it away from the danger to keep his clean sheet intact.

With just under 20 minutes remaining, Craigan made his first change, bringing Jake Hastie on for Dom Thomas.

With ten minutes remaining, MacLean was sent charging down the right yet again after a brilliant ball from Brill sent the midfielder on his way, but the ball across looking for Mackin was cut out.

Minutes later, a corner was put on the foot of Turnbull inside the area. The youngster caught it on the volley to turn it towards goal but Donaldson stepped in to block it and keep the game at 2-0.

Craigan made another change on the 84th minute, with goal scorer Mackin being replaced by Falconer.

And it didn’t take the new arrival to the game long to make an impact, bringing down a high ball from Tom Fry and finding himself one-on-one with the keeper but with the length of the United half in front of him, The youngster charged down on goal and slotted it neatly past Long into the keepers bottom right corner.

That goal capped off an incredible, dominant performance from the U20s, who looked back to their scintillating best form.

Motherwell: Brill, McMillan, Maguire, Ferguson, Watt, Campbell, MacLean (Scott – 88mins), Turnbull, Mackin (Falconer – 84mins), Thomas (Hastie – 72mins), Fry

Subs Not Used: Morrison, Livingstone

Motherwell FC is today delighted to announce Ryan Murrant has joined the club as Marketing & Fan Engagement Manager.

Ryan is a multi-award winning fan-engagement practitioner across several clubs in England including Aldershot Town, Crawley Town, Southend Utd and, most recently, at Doncaster Rovers.

In that time his teams have won the Family Excellence award at Southend, Crawley and Donny and in his final season at the Keepmoat Stadium, won the Football League, League One Family Club of the Year.

Amongst many things, including improving the clubs’ comms and marketing, his remit at Fir Park will be to improve the fan experience, particularly on matchdays and help maintain and grow the club’s supporter base through interaction and engagement.

Ryan, who will take up his post from Monday 19th September, said: “I have known Alan for a few years and to now have the opportunity to come and work for him and this wonderful football club is something I am very excited about.

[pullquote]“I am passionate about making things better for supporters. The club has given me a blank canvass to work from to enable us all to improve things off the park at Fir Park.[/pullquote]

“This type of role can’t work if the people at the very top don’t subscribe to it so I thank Alan and the board for the opportunity, and can’t wait to get going and to develop things further”.

Chief Operating Officer Alan Burrows added: “I’ve been working to get Ryan to Fir Park for quite some time as I have always been a huge fan of the innovative, engaging work he has produced at his previous clubs.

“I’ve been extremely keen to try and better how we communicate with supporters but also, eager to improve our matchday experience and what we offer fans when they come to Fir Park every second week.

“Ryan has terrific experience in that field and has been recognized for it. Over and above that though, his role will also encompass marketing and communications, database and CRM implementation – again, all things he is very familiar with.

“He’ll also audit and improve what we do from a fan service point of view, delivering what we say we will, something I feel we’ve needed to improve on for quite some time.

“I look forward to working with him and excited to see what can be achieved.”

At Motherwell FC we are always looking to improve your day here at Fir Park.

Currently we are looking for supporters to help the club on a match day to sell our half-time draw tickets in the hospitality suites and to supporters walking up to the turnstiles with the money taken from the raffle directly supporting the Club’s Academy.

If you are outgoing, enthusiastic with experience in handling cash and importantly keen to support the development of the Club’s youth players by helping sell these tickets then email mfcenquiries@motherwellfc.co.uk

These are commission based roles, with match ticket included though we cannot guarantee that you’ll see all the game as you’ll have responsibilities up to kick-off with some required up until half-time.

Applicants should be at least 16 years old.

Highlights from Dingwall where Louis Moult’s penalty earns Motherwell a draw in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

‘Well boss Mark McGhee admitted today felt like a fresh start as his side earned a hard-fought draw away to Ross County.

The manager felt boosted by a number of players returning to the fold from injuries – including star striker Louis Moult and veteran full-back Stevie Hammell.

Speaking to MFC TV at full time, McGhee thought the draw was well-earned against tough opponents.

He said: “I’m content with a point. All games up here are difficult – we came up here at the start of last season and got beat but then at the end of the season we won.

“I thought today was a fresh start for us with Moult back, Bowman here – our season almost starts here so in what was our second first game of the season, in a way, to take away a draw wasn’t a bad thing at all.

“When you have the likes of Lionel and Moulty to bring on at that stage of the game you have a chance.

“If we had these options to come on at Ibrox or against Dundee I think we would’ve got more from those games – we have Carl McHugh, Jacob Blyth, Luka Belić and Kieran Kennedy to come back too.”

[pullquote]I thought today was a fresh start for us with Moult back, Bowman here – our season almost starts here so in what was our second first game of the season, in a way, to take away a draw wasn’t a bad thing at all.[/pullquote]

Despite being boosted by a number of returns, the Fir Parkers lost Keith Lasley shortly after the break after the skipper suffered a dead-leg.

McGhee said: “We had to take Lasley off and in doing so had to move Chris Cadden inside from the flank and I felt we lost a little bit in having to do so, not in terms of what he did or didn’t do in the middle but what that took away from his play out wide.”

The Staggies went down to ten men in the 70th minute, and even though the Steelmen couldn’t find that all important second goal, the ‘Well boss wasn’t frustrated by the outcome.

He said: “It wasn’t frustrating to be honest because I felt the game didn’t change much at that point and I would be more concerned that they were still in the game at that point.”

On new signing Ryan Bowman, who made his debut, McGhee said: “He’s a physical presence he’s a handful – he goes up for headers and if he doesn’t win them he takes the defenders with him and takes the pressure off Scotty – I felt he could’ve got a goal today but I’m satisfied that he’s a different enough option to what we have in the squad.”

Images from today’s 1-1 draw with Ross County at Dingwall in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix

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