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Motherwell will be encouraged with their performance despite suffering a 4-0 defeat to Celtic at the Penny Cars Stadium on Wednesday.

Charlie Welling would fire the hosts in front from close range early on, before adding her second of the game on the stroke of half-time.

An unfortunate Jo Addie own goal would give Celtic a third, before a late Clarissa Larisey strike sealed victory for the visitors.

Motherwell applied the early pressure and were unfortunate not to open the scoring in the early stages.

Leanne Crichton’s perfectly-weighted through-ball found Gemma Hughes unmarked at the edge of the box, and the forward skilfully beat her opponent before firing her strike towards goal, but her effort was easily gathered by the keeper.

Minutes later, Gill Inglis’ clever interception deep into the Celtic half released Lori Gardner, who burst with pace before placing her strike past Chloe Logan. However, the winger’s effort landed agonisingly wide of the Celtic post.

Despite Motherwell’s early chances, it would be the visitors who would find the opener after 15 minutes.

Chloe Warrington’s in-swinging cross found Welling unmarked in the box, and the forward calmly placed her strike past Khym Ramsay from close range.

Celtic would double their advantage on the stroke of half-time. Shen Mengyu’s low-driven cross again found Welling unmarked in the box, and the striker coolly slotted her strike past Ramsay into the bottom left corner.

The league leaders would add a third in the latter stages of the game. Rachael Donaldson was left in acres of space on the right, and the midfielder’s powerful low cross was inadvertently deflected past Ramsay by teammate Addie’s tackle into the bottom left corner.

With 10 minutes left to play, Celtic would seal all three points by adding a fourth. Donaldson’s whipped in free-kick was parried away by Ramsay, but only as far as Larisey who comfortably followed up from a yard out.

Motherwell will be encouraged with their display and will have positives to take before they host Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton in the first-ever women’s Lanarkshire derby later next month.

It’s been an extraordinary past few months for Liam Grimshaw.

The fans’ favourite found himself sidelined at the start of 2021 with glandular fever.

Expecting to be out for a matter of weeks, the rest of the season was wiped out as he took a prolonged period of time to recover.

Fighting his way back to fitness, he had another hurdle to overcome – netting his first professional goal.

After well over 100 appearances in claret and amber, the big moment finally came at a crucial time, with his strike proving to be decisive in a big win at Livingston.

The Burnley native has taken ML1 to heart since arriving in 2015, and then signing permanently in 2017, and took us out for a day at one of his favourite pursuits – horse racing.

Juhani Ojala has been called up by Finland.

The central defender returns to the national side after a short absence, taking his place in the selection for FIFA World Cup qualifying matches with Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Capped 31 times by his country, the 32-year-old has been a standout performer for Motherwell since his summer switch from Vejle.

Finland host Ukraine at home first on 9 October, before making the trip to Kazakhstan for their second match on 12 October.

Defender Murron Cunningham has signed from Heart of Midlothian.

The 22-year-old, who has turned out for Hearts and champions Glasgow City previously, joins up with Paul Brownlie’s side having won the Players’ Player of the Year at the Jambos last season.

“We are continuing to add quality to the squad,” head coach Brownlie said.

”Murron will bring vast experience and real leadership qualities that will complement the squad.

“She is only 22 and I believe she has real quality that she can continue to develop and take her game to the next level.”

Cunningham, who can play in defence or midfield, is looking forward to the future.

“I’m looking forward to starting fresh here at Motherwell,” she added.

”It’s something that I feel I can contribute to looking into the future.

“I’m ready to give my best here at Motherwell and hopefully help the team progress as much as possible”

Cunningham will wear the number 28 kit this season.

Liam Kelly and Stephen O’Donnell have been named in the Scotland squad for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying double header.

The Motherwell pair are in the selection for matches with Israel and the Faroe Islands on 9 and 12 October respectively.

Both were in the party for Scotland’s last round of games, with O’Donnell featuring in the away win in Austria.

Club captain O’Donnell goes into the match also looking to break the record for Scotland caps earned while on the books at Motherwell.

Having equalled George Stevenson’s record in Vienna, his 13th cap would earn him the accolade.

Our physiotherapist David Henderson also takes up his regular place on the backroom staff.

Our main partners Paycare Wellbeing have organised a Motherwell Mental Health Awareness e-clinic.

The free virtual event, which is aimed at individuals and businesses who want to learn more about wellbeing, will run from 11am until 12pm on Tuesday 23 November.

Run in conjunction with the club, it will feature guests Robert Nesbitt from the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and Aaron Connolly from Time to Tackle.

Booking your free place couldn’t be easier – simply click here.

SAMH has been running for almost 100 years, launching in 1923, and is Scotland’s national mental health charity which works with adults and young people to provide support within social care, primary care, schools and other settings.

Time to Tackle was set up by Aaron and Siobhán Connolly, after Aaron struggled to find support for his mental health. They run an award-winning Football Therapy programme and aim to challenge stigma, promote open and honest conversations, and create peer support networks to combat loneliness.

“We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Motherwell FC even further by jointly hosting a free webinar focused around mental health,” Paycare’s Wellbeing Manager Kerry B Mitchell explains.

“I’ll be sharing some information about various conditions and risk factors, tips on approaching difficult conversations, signposting pathways, and some of the statistics and myths around mental health.

“I’m sure with the Scottish Association for Mental Health and Time to Tackle both joining us on the e-clinic that it’ll be a really interesting and informative hour for those attending.

“It’s so important for us all to be having these conversations, especially with more of us than ever likely to develop mental ill health during our lifetimes – and I’d like to thank Motherwell FC for their commitment to highlighting this issue.”

Motherwell head to Hearts in the cinch Premiership match on Saturday.

Kick-off at Tynecastle Park is at 3pm.

Tickets

There’s one last chance to get tickets for Hearts v Motherwell.

Tickets are available from the ticket office at Fir Park between 10am and 12pm on Saturday before the match.

Adult tickets cost £27. Over 65s and those in full-time education get in for £19, Under 18s for £14, Under 16s for £7 and Under 13s for £5.

Mandatory vaccine certification will be in place for this fixture. Spot checks will take place as you enter the stadium.

You must be fully vaccinated to attend. You and everyone in your party must bring proof of this status with you to the match, unless you are exempt (under the age of 18, not able to get the vaccine for medical reasons, or taking part in vaccine trials).

You can get proof of your vaccination status here.

Please only purchase tickets if you meet these criteria as Hearts will have to refuse entry if you are subject to a spot check and cannot comply with the Scottish Government vaccine certification legislation.

Watch live

The match is available to buy on pay-per-view from Hearts in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Ireland for £15.

To buy, head to ppv.heartsfc.co.uk.

Due to UEFA restrictions, the game can not be sold in England.

International viewers can watch through our subscription service at live.motherwellfc.co.uk. Packages start at as little as £12.50 per month to watch all 38 cinch Premiership fixtures.

Tale of the tape

Motherwell have won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five encounters with the Edinburgh side.

The last meeting came in the capital in March 2020, when Christopher Long’s goal contributed to a 1- 1 draw.

Form guide

Motherwell are unbeaten in their last six league matches, winning four and drawing two.

The 2-1 win over Ross County on Saturday kept Graham Alexander’s men within two points of top spot with seven matches played.

Hearts sit a point ahead in third, having won four and drawn three to also remain unbeaten in the league so far in 2021/22.

Motherwell return to action on Wednesday 29 September when they take on Celtic at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie.

Kick off is at 8pm. The game is being played behind closed doors.

Tale Of The Tape

Motherwell last faced Celtic in their final SWPL1 fixture of the 2020/21 season, with the opposition running out 8-0 winners.

The last time Motherwell picked up points in this fixture was in March 2019, when they drew 0-0 away from home.

Form Guide

Motherwell come into this game after a weekend break due to international call ups.

Prior to the break, Motherwell were beaten by a late Partick Thistle goal which saw them sink to a 3-2 defeat.

Celtic are unbeaten in the league thus far, where they have only dropped points against champions Glasgow City, when they drew 2-2.

“We had to dig out the win from a difficult game. We stuck at it and got our rewards.”

Motherwell maintained their fine run of form with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Ross County.

Tony Watt’s winner made it six games undefeated and sent the team up to third, after Callum Slattery’s opener was cancelled out by Regan Charles-Cook.

Bevis Mugabi was the only change from the draw at Rangers last weekend, with Ricki Lamie coming in at centre back.

Motherwell started at an electric pace, with Grimshaw going close early with a header.

The opener wouldn’t take long. With two minutes on the clock, the ball broke 25 yards from goal.

As it bounced, Slattery caught it perfectly on the way up and sent his shot perfectly into the top-right corner of the net.

The Steelmen fed off the energy the early goal brought. Woolery saw a drive from the right blocked, while Watt also saw a dipping effort from the left side just go over.

County though would find their feet and Kelly was called into action three times to save smartly as shots rained in on his goal.

‘Well struggled to find the early tempo as the first half wore on, with only an Ojala header on target being saved, and the visitors would make them pay.

The lively Charles-Cook cut onto his right foot on the left corner of the box. Sending the ball across goal, White’s movement was enough to put Kelly off and allow the ball to sneak into the right side of the net.

The break gave Motherwell time to think and they started the second period with a return to life.

Watt was at the heart of things, and thought he’d given ‘Well the lead with a towering header which just clipped the bar as goalkeeper Maynard-Brewer got a touch.

Again though, the verve slowed down and County continued to look dangerous, cutting in from the flanks on several occasions and sending shots towards Kelly’s goal.

‘Well sparked back into life as they pushed hard to regain the advantage and they would get their rewards with 10 to go.

A ball in behind found the ever-energetic Watt. His first touch took him wide but he steadied himself before firing low and hard under the goalkeeper and into the net to send the crowd at Fir Park wild.

Motherwell: Kelly, O’Donnell, Ojala, Lamie, McGinley, Grimshaw (Donnelly), O’Hara, Slattery, Woolery (Roberts), Watt, Van Veen (Carroll).

Subs: Fox, Crawford, Maguire, Amaluzor.