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Images from today’s 5-1 loss to Celtic at Celtic Park.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix

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‘Well boss Stephen Robinson insists tiredness cannot be used as an issue after his side lost 5-1 at Celtic Park this afternoon.

A third meeting with Celtic in the space of a week proved a game too many for the hard-working Fir Parkers who kept themselves in the game until the closing stages.

And speaking to MFC TV at full time, Robinson admitted that after going 2-0 down, the game became open as ‘Well pushed to get a foothold in the fixture.

[pullquote]I definitely won’t be using [tiredness] as an excuse because we turned up today fully expecting to give them a real tough game and perhaps nick something.[/pullquote]

“I definitely won’t be using [tiredness] as an excuse because we turned up today fully expecting to give them a real tough game and perhaps nick something,” the manager said.

“But we started the game really poorly, we set-off and gave them ownership of the game and I think the game is over at half time when you’re 2-0 down at Celtic.

“We made positive changes, we tried to chase the game so that always leaves you open to the counter attack.”

[tab:Match report]

Lewis Irons at Celtic Park

The signs of a week of hard work were visible as Motherwell lost 5-1 against Celtic in the third meeting with the side in six days.

Elliott Frear reduced the half time deficit with a neat finish just after the hour mark following Odsonne Edouard’s first half brace, but Brendan Rodgers options off the bench ensured the Parkhead side brushed aside the Steelmen for all three points.

Stephen Robinson made three changes from the side who started on Wednesday night – recalling Ryan Bowman and Andy Rose to the starting eleven, whilst giving Craig Tanner his first start since November’s trip north to take on Ross County.

Much like Wednesday and Sunday’s fixtures with the Hoops, Robinson’s men were limited to very little time on the ball, whilst the hosts tried to unlock a resolute ‘Well side.

And the Steelmen went within inches of taking the lead when Chris Cadden curled a decent effort just over Craig Gordon’s crossbar.

However, unlike the other two encounters, the scoring was opened in the first half trough PSG loanee Odsonne Edouard, who tapped home a slick Celtic move in the 16th minute.

The young forward made it 2-0 with a low effort from outside the box on the half hour mark as the home side asserted their control on the clash.

Robinson was quick to make changes and at the start of the second period introduced Frear and club captain Carl McHugh – withdrawing Tanner and Chris Cadden.

Shortly after, Deimantas Petravičius made his introduction in place of Louis Moult as Robinson looked to get his side back in to the game.

The changes made an almost immediate impact too, with the Fir Parkers gaining more of a foothold in the game and eventually pulling one back just after the hour mark.

A pinpoint, in-swinging cross from Richard Tait required just the slightest of touches from Frear – who ghosted in to finish beyond Gordon.

Ten minutes later though, Celtic all but secured the win when substitute James Forrest cut inside to finish beyond Trevor Carson.

From there, Celtic were in cruise control as they added two more – the first ensuring Edouard completed his hat-trick and the second resulting in Forrest’s third goal of the week.

[tab:As it happened]

 Alastair Reilly at Celtic Park

FT: Celtic 5 – 1 Motherwell

90′ | 5-1
Tait whips in a deep cross which finds Frear but he can only shoot straight at Gordon.

Three minutes added on.

88′ | 5-1
Goal – Forrest picks up the ball wide on the right and curls it past Carson with the outside of his boot.

84′ | 4-1
Goal – Edouard gets on the end of a pass back and slots it past Carson.

79′ | 3-1
Great save by Carson, tipping Armstrong’s shot over the bar after a Celtic counter attack

77′ | 3-1
Celtic sub, Armstrong on for Sinclair.

76′ | 3-1
Goal – Forrest restores Celtic’s two-goal lead, firing low past Carson from the right-hand side.

75′ | 2-1
McHugh booked for a tackle on Rogic. Not that much in it.

71′ | 2-1
Rogic peels off his man and has a pop at goal but again it flies over the bar.

And another switch, Hayes off for Forrest.

67′ | 2-1
Celtic sub, Ntcham off for McGregor

65′ | 2-1
The Steelmen have a goal back! Tait with a lovely ball in which is read by Frear and poked past Gordon!!

GOAL!!

64′ | 2-0
Ntcham’s free-kick is beaten away by Carson then Tierney fires wide of the post.

60′ | 2-0
Frear wins a free-kick wide on the left….ball falls to Kipré but he fires over the bar from 20 yards

59′ | 2-0
Lustig with a good volley from the edge of the box which is beaten away by Carson

57′ | 2-0
Motherwell sub, Moult off for Petravicius

Celtic get the second 45 underway.

Double Motherwell change at half-time, Cadden and Tanner off for McHugh and Frear

HT: Celtic 2 – 0 Motherwell

One minute added on.

40′ | 2-0
Celtic think they have scored but after some debate, the linesman raises his flag. Looked the right decision.

37′ | 2-0
Campbell booked for a foul on Tierney midway inside the Celtic half.

33′ | 2-0
Goal – Edouard gets plenty of space from 20 yards and picks his spot low past Carson.

24′ | 1-0
Tait goes into the ref’s book for a foul wide on the Motherwell right on Tierney.

18′ | 1-0
Hayes cuts in off the right and curls a left-footed shot just wide of the post.

16′ | 1-0
Goal – Edouard gets on the end of Sinclair’s cut-back and pokes it past Carson

14′ | 0-0
Ntcham gets a bit of space 25 yards and opts for the shot but it never looks like troubling Carson, sailing over the bar.

12′ | 0-0
Chance! Ball falls to Cadden on the edge of the box but his shot curls just over the bar!

11′ | 0-0
From that corner Motherwell breakaway 2v1 but Moult is brought down by Brown with Tanner ready to race clear. A booking for the Celtic man.

10′ | 0-0
First chance of the game as Hayes floats in a cross from the left but Tait gets his head to it and knocks it wide for a corner.

1′ | 0-0
Early Celtic corner but it’s dealt with by Dunne who heads away.

Allan Campbell gets the game underway. COYW!!!

Motherwell face up to a third meeting with Celtic in the space of a week following Sunday’s Betfred Cup final and Wednesday night’s dramatic 1-1 draw.

And following further controversy surrounding penalty decisions, Saturday’s trip to Celtic Park presents a third bite at Brendan Rodgers side.

The Fir Park men will be hungry to go one step further, having come just minutes away from ending the Glaswegians long unbeaten run, only to be cruelly denied by a soft penalty decision by referee Willie Collum.

With Parkhead the setting for the third and final head-to-head clash between the sides this year, all eyes will be on what will inevitably be a heated encounter.

And manager Stephen Robinson has called for attention to turn to football as his side prepare for a third clash with Celtic in six days amid a lot of on and off-field talking points

Robinson, who expressed his pride for his team following Wednesday’s 1-1 draw, is keen to get back to business on Saturday.

Speaking to the broadcast press this morning, the Northern Irishman addressed a number of talking points from the previous two encounters, but called for more people to talk about the hard-work of his team.

He said: “Let’s talk about how good a player Scott Brown is, and Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell and people like that.

“Nobodies spoke about Motherwell, instead it’s rivalries, but nobodies actually said that we had seven clean sheets last season and we’ve got nine already.

“We’ve won fourteen games already and we only won thirteen last season, we’ve taken four points off Aberdeen and Celtic in our last two games – we took none at all last season.”

[pullquote]We’ve won fourteen games already and we only won thirteen last season, we’ve taken four points off Aberdeen and Celtic in our last two games – we took none at all last season.[/pullquote]

Robinson will have a full-strength squad to pick from tomorrow – but admits he will have another selection headache on his hands.

Allan Campbell, one of three changes Robinson made from the cup final side to Wednesday night, is an example of the options the manager has to ponder.

And the young midfielder is hungry to get back to action too.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s meeting with Celtic in Glasgow, the young Steelman is aiming to do all of his talking on the park and insists that him and his teammates will approach every game in the same manner.

With confidence high around Fir Park, Campbell believes ‘Well can go to Parkhead and end Celtic’s unbeaten run.

He said: “We approach every game just the same, we go out every week and try and win the game and I think tomorrow is going to be the same.

“We’ll prepare right today, train well, have a meeting with the gaffer, see what we can improve on and just prepare for the game as usual.”

He added: “We just need to go and do our talking on the park and hopefully prove tomorrow that we’re going to win the game and get stuck in about it just the same.”

With Brendan Rodgers side hungry to extend their incredible run, it makes for an interesting encounter in Glasgow.

The Celtic manager could be without the injured Moussa Dembele and Nir Bitton, whilst Patrick Roberts may be doubtful after he left the park early on Wednesday night.

Please note, this is a ticket-only fixture – no cash turnstiles will be in operation.

Admission prices are as follows:

• Cheaper price is for restricted view seats. Once full view allocation has been sold, restricted view tickets will be available.
• Concessions are listed as over 65s and under 16s
• Please note, all under 13s attending the match must be accompanied by an adult
• Please note that there are no remaining spaces for ambulant or wheelchair access in the Celtic end. These are sold out.
• Motherwell fans who require ambulant or wheelchair access should contact Brian Davidson on 07725 917161

If you can’t make it tomorrow, don’t miss the action by tuning in to mixlr.com/motherwellfc for live commentary or follow the match on Twitter @MotherwellFC

You can see the match highlights on MFC TV’s YouTube channel, as well as full reaction and a match report right here on the official website.

‘Well boss Stephen Robinson has called for attention to turn to football as his side prepare for a third clash with Celtic in six days.

And the manager, who expressed his pride for his team following Wednesday’s 1-1 draw, is keen to get back to business tomorrow afternoon.

Speaking to the broadcast press this morning, the Northern Irishman addressed a number of talking points from the previous two encounters, but called for more people to talk about the hard-work of his team.

[pullquote]We’ve won fourteen games already and we only won thirteen last season, we’ve taken four points off Aberdeen and Celtic in our last two games – we took none at all last season.[/pullquote]

He said: “Let’s talk about how good a player Scott Brown is, and Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell and people like that.

“Nobodies spoke about Motherwell, instead it’s rivalries, but nobodies actually said that we had seven clean sheets last season and we’ve got nine already.

“We’ve won fourteen games already and we only won thirteen last season, we’ve taken four points off Aberdeen and Celtic in our last two games – we took none at all last season.”

‘Well midfielder Allan Campbell insists that him and his teammates will approach every game in the same manner.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s meeting with Celtic in Glasgow, the young Steelman is aiming to do all of his talking on the park.

And with confidence high around Fir Park, Campbell believes ‘Well can go to Parkhead and end Celtic’s unbeaten run.

[pullquote]We just need to go and do our talking on the park and hopefully prove tomorrow that we’re going to win the game and get stuck in about it just the same.[/pullquote]

He said: “We approach every game just the same, we go out every week and try and win the game and I think tomorrow is going to be the same.

“We’ll prepare right today, train well, have a meeting with the gaffer, see what we can improve on and just prepare for the game as usual.”

He added: “We just need to go and do our talking on the park and hopefully prove tomorrow that we’re going to win the game and get stuck in about it just the same.”

Motherwell Football Club today released the following statement in relation to Wednesday’s match with Celtic at Fir Park.

“Many supporters have contacted the club today seeking clarity on our position regarding incidents during Wednesday night’s fixture with Celtic.

“Firstly, it is unfortunate yet another Motherwell match has been dominated by a debatable decision from a match official. It is a call that has left the majority of our supporters again feeling extremely frustrated.

“Whilst everyone in football accepts match officials have a challenging role, and getting everything correct is almost impossible, it is disappointing to see high profile decisions affect both Wednesday night’s match and the Betfred Cup final in the way they have.

“To that end, we have made contact with the Scottish FA’s Head of Refereeing to express our views and seek feedback.

“In addition, the board would like to thank our fans for yet another strong turnout and for their backing of the team. Our average attendances are up almost 30% this season as Stephen Robinson and his squad continue to capture the imagination.

“However, we also note the comments of the Celtic captain today. As we do at every match at Fir Park, if any incidents are reported to us, we will fully investigate them. Should any evidence exist, we will take appropriate action against any individuals who have acted unacceptably.

“In addition, we will work with Celtic Football Club to fully investigate, amongst other things, the numerous acts of vandalism, including 206 broken seats, damaged toilets and graffiti in the McEwan Fraser Legal South Stand.”

Referee for Saturday’s league trip to Celtic Park is Kevin Clancy.

The 34-year-old takes charge of the Steelmen’s third meeting with Celtic in a week and his third Motherwell clash of the season, with the two prior to this weekend coming in the Betfred Cup.

It will be the officials first involvement with the Steelmen away from home this term too,  following the 4-0 and 3-0 wins against Greenock Morton and Aberdeen respectively. 

Last season, the referee was the man in the middle on five occasions.

That included two Lanarkshire derbies during the 2016/17 season – including the goalless draw at Fir Park and the dramatic 1-0 victory towards the end of the season in which Louis Moult’s header secured three crucial points.

His overall record in charge of Motherwell reads fifteen matches in total, Motherwell winning seven, drawing three and losing five. ‘Well have scored twenty-three and conceded nineteen.

Kevin will be assisted by Stuart Stevenson and Graeme Leslie. Don Robertson is the fourth official.

Highlights from Fir Park as a late Sinclair penalty cancels out Lustig’s own goal.

Images from tonight’s 1-1 draw with Celtic at Fir Park.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix

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