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Motherwell moved closer to the teams about with a comfortable 2-0 win over Dundee United. Tawanda Maswanhise scored a brace either side of half-time to the delight of the 7000 Motherwell fans at Fir Park. 

As a result of the win, they made it 12 games unbeaten in ML1. The clean sheet was their 21st of the season, making that a new club record.

Chairman Kyrk Macmillan’s provides an update following the club’s AGM last week.

The Chairman discusses ticket initiatives, training ground updates, Fir Park study, transfer strategy and more.

Survival. The fundamental motivation and mentality of the women of steel, who stare down a daunting fight to preserve their top-flight status.

Motherwell sit precariously above the relegation-playoff position in the Scottish Power Women’s Premier League table, with Aberdeen trailing the women of steel on goal-difference.

The road to survival will start in the Granite City next month, as Motherwell will face the Dons in the opening post-split tie at Balmoral Stadium, and midfielder Sophie Townsley recognises that every game will be a battle for survival.

“Every game will be a battle,” Townsley said.

“Each point could be the difference between survival and relegation, and it will be vital to get off to the right start in the split.

“It will allow us to build that confidence early, and create an advantage over the other clubs, which will hopefully separate ourselves come the end of the season.

“Recent results have been incredibly tough to take as a squad. We feel we have put a lot into our performances, and have been really unfortunate to have left empty-handed. We have to keep working hard and sticking together as a team, as having that strong team bond will really make us stronger on the pitch.”

Motherwell will hope to reverse their recent misfortunes in the Granite City, as an 85^th minute strike from Mya Christie ended a five-game unbeaten run in the North-East. Townsley insists that the squad are relishing the opportunity.

“We are ready to right the wrongs from that day,” Townsley emphasised.

“Our performance wasn’t at the tempo and pace we’d expected until the second-half, and we ultimately didn’t capitalise on and impose our control in the game.

“Credit to Aberdeen, they took their chance when it came, and that’s the small margins in this league. Every game in the split will be as important as each other, but to face one of the teams closest to us on the opening day means that we have to be at our best from the start.

Motherwell’s frustrations persisted last weekend, as invincible league leaders, Glasgow City struck four-times in East Kilbride to compound the hosts seventh-consecutive league defeat. Despite the scoreline, Townsley and her teammates had several positives to take against the full-time side.

“It was obviously going to be an incredibly tough game,” Townsley reiterated.

“City are unbeaten domestically this season for a reason. They are a very strong team, but I felt as a group, we stuck together and showed a real fight. We have to keep working hard and sticking together as a team. We have to keep supporting each other, and build on the togetherness we showed in those recent games, and we have to take that fight and togetherness into the split.

“We have to replicate what we do in training every week. The team is full of talented players, who have shown what they are capable of achieving, so we have to take that belief into each game, and hopefully keep building.”

The women of steel maintain a healthy amalgamation of experience and youth, with Skipper Gill Inglis and Vice-Captain, Chelsie Watson supporting the emergence of exciting young talents from within and outwith the Motherwell academy.

Despite her youthful age of 19, Townsley is experiencing a valuable lesson in top-flight football, with the battle to resist the threat of relegation, but the youngster insists that the balance within the squad could benefit the team for the remainder of the season.

“It’s really good for us to have a variety within the squad,” Townsley added.

“The experienced players, who know and understand the game so well have so much knowledge and experience, and us younger players are just eager to learn from them as much as we can.

“Even though it is a really difficult situation for the club, it is a great experience for myself playing in this league. It’s still my first season in the top-flight, and the team have been great in helping my development.”

As the women of steel prepare for the monumental task of preserving their SPWPL status, Townsley reiterated the importance of support in the stands.

“It’s so important, and means so much for us as a team,” Townsley said.

“People say the fans are the 12^th player, giving encouragement from the stands, and that just pushes us on as players to fight for that extra yard on the pitch.”

Motherwell travel to Dens Park to face Dundee in the William Hill Premiership on Saturday 7 March.

Kick off is 3pm.

How to follow the game

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Motherwell’s Fortunes

Motherwell moved onto 53 points with their 2-0 win over Dundee United last weekend. Tawanda Maswanhise scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season in that win, as Calum Ward ensured we kept our 21st clean sheet of the season, a new club record.

This match is a rearranged fixture. Celtic, who are two points ahead of the Steelmen, are also playing a game in hand this week, facing Aberdeen on Wednesday night. What Motherwell do know is a win would move them to within a point of Rangers.

The last meeting between these two sides saw Callum Slattery head home in the latter stages to secure a 1-0 win at Fir Park. The previous meeting at Dens Park saw Maswanhise open the scoring in the first-half, but a Dundee fightback in the second period earned Stephen Pressley’s side a 1-1 draw.

Opposition Report

Dundee will be playing in the bottom six post-split, but Pressley’s side has impressed this season. A late Cameron Congreve goal saw Dundee earn a point against Hibernian last weekend.

That result followed an impressive 3-2 victory at Pittodrie. Dundee are now just two points off of Dundee United in 7th place and are seven points away from the relegation playoff.

Dundee may only have one win in seven outings, but five of those matches were away, and with this fixture marking their second out of three consecutive home games, they’ll be looking to make the most of home advantage.

Jens Berthel Askou speaks on Motherwell’s 2-0 win over Dundee United at Fir Park.

The win takes his side up to 53 points, and breaks the club’s clean sheet record.

Motherwell moved to within a point of third place with a 2-0 win over Dundee United at Fir Park on Saturday afternoon. 

A Tawanda Maswanhise double, which took the Zimbabwean international to 21 goals for the Steelmen this season, made it one defeat in 20 league matches as the Steelmen closed the gap to Celtic.

Quite unusually for Jens Berthel Askou, there was only one change to his Motherwell team selection. Lukas Fadinger returned to the starting 11 following his two-match suspension, replacing Oscar Priestman in the midfield.

Fir Park was packed, with over 7000 Motherwell fans in attendance, and the Steelmen were the team quickest to settle into the match.

A condensed midfield saw Motherwell look to exploit balls in behind for Maswanhise and Elijah Just to chase, and it was the latter who almost got on the end of Elliot Watt’s through-ball, but Dundee United keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer came rushing out to clear.

Callum Slattery picked up the ball on the halfway line and drove forward. The Englishman slipped the ball into Maswanhise with his back to goal; he set up Ibrahim Said for a strike, but defender Iurie Iovu was able to get a block in to prevent the shot from going into the net.

The next opening came from the resulting corner. Slattery’s failed attempt at finding someone on the edge of the box from the delivery saw the ball come back to him. He played Just in the box, and the New Zealander returned to Slattery, who had darted into the six-yard box. He played across the face of the goal, but there were no takers.

Motherwell continued to probe, with the Steelmen having large amounts of possession in the first-half. Goalkeeper Calum Ward was finding the ball at his feet without pressure from the Dundee United frontline, as he looked to find balls over the top for his forwards.

Said got past Neil Farrugia with a clever piece of skill. He raced forward, and the ball into the box was just too far ahead of both Slattery and Maswanhise, but the deadlock looked like it would be broken.

Dundee United’s rare move forward in the first-half saw Luca Stephenson have a go from 25 yards, but his effort was never troubling Ward, who could gather with ease.

Motherwell went up a gear as they searched for the opener. Lukas Fadinger sent the ball forward in search of Stephen O’Donnell, who found himself on the edge of the box. His intention was to slip the ball wide to Said, but the ball deflected back into O’Donnell’s pass, and the defender came very close to finding the bottom corner with his strike.

And then on 35 minutes, there was big drama. Vicko Ševelj was tussling with Maswanhise off the ball in the area when the Dundee United man appeared to strike out towards Maswanhise’s lower stomach. Nick Walsh didn’t see the incident until VAR recommended an on-field review for a penalty kick.

Upon watching the incident, Walsh deemed Ševelj’s action to be reckless but not that of violent conduct and gave him a yellow card and pointed to the spot for a penalty.

Maswanhise stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to become the first Motherwell player to score 20 goals in a season since Kevin van Veen in 2023. 37 minutes, 1-0.

Motherwell did look for a second before the half was finished. Just won possession on the halfway line, and Maswanhise drove goalwards. Carrying the ball 20 yards, he found Slattery on the right-hand side, who picked out Said in the box, but both Said and Fadinger would enter each other’s path and the chance would go missing.

Having missed that chance at the end of the first half, Motherwell wanted to start the second half more clinically, and that’s exactly what happened. Seconds into the second period, Watt played a quick free-kick forward, Maswanhise picked up the ball and struck it into the ground and off the defender to deflect it past Maynard-Brewer for his 21st goal of the season.

It was almost a hat-trick for Maswanhise minutes later when Stephen Welsh’s long ball unleashed the pace of Maswanhise; he latched onto the ball and raced towards goal but couldn’t keep his effort on target.

Maswanhise was denied his third once again when Just slipped the ball into Maswanhise’s path on the right-hand side of the penalty box. The forward opted to strike towards the near post, but the keeper was a match for the effort.

Dundee United’s best chance of the afternoon came directly from a corner. Kristijan Trapanovski’s delivery was too high for everyone in the box and looped over Ward, but the Motherwell keeper will be grateful for his woodwork as the ball crashed off his left-hand post.

From there, Motherwell countered quickly. Emmanuel Longelo dropped the shoulder to give himself half a yard to pick out Eythor Bjørgolfsson in the box. The Norwegian connected sweetly with his head, but Maynard-Brewer got down to save.

Slattery was next to go close. He trapped the long ball from Ward expertly, cut inside onto his right foot and curled an effort just past the post; this time the keeper had no chance.

With the Motherwell fans in full voice singing their rendition of Stand Up and Sing for Motherwell, Captain Paul McGinn headed over the bar from a Just corner.

Motherwell closed out the rest of the game with ease as their domination of teams at Fir Park continued, as they went 12 games unbeaten in ML1. The clean sheet was their 21st of the season, making that a new club record.

Motherwell Team: Ward, O’Donnell, McGinn, Welsh, Longelo, Watt, Fadinger, Slattery, Said, Just, Maswanhise. 

Motherwell Subs: Connelly, Sparrow, McGhee, Gordon, Priestman, Ross, Nicholson, Bjørgolfsson, Charles-Cook.

16-year-old defender Aaron Thomson has received a call-up to the Scotland Under 17 squad.

The youngster will be in the squad for the UEFA Under-17 EURO 2026 Elite Round Qualifiers, which takes place at the Showground in Coleraine.

Scotland v Turkiye
Sunday, 15 March 2026

Scotland v Spain
Wednesday, 18 March 2026

Scotland v Northern Ireland
Saturday, 21 March 2026

Calum Ward speaks about his and team’s enjoyment of playing at home, and the importance the home form has been this season.

Ward kept another clean sheet against St Mirren last weekend, taking the count to 20 in all competitions for the team, matching the club record. Ward explains how they have managed to that and the importance of his teammates.

Manager Jens Berthel Askou says Dundee United will be giving it everything they’ve got this weekend, as Jim Goodwin’s side look to hunt down a spot in the top-six. 

The boss is quizzed on title race claims, staying humble, Callum Slattery’s involvement in the red card last weekend and team news ahead of Saturday’s match in the William Hill Premiership.

Jens Berthel Askou has provided an update on the fitness of two first-team players. 

Johnny Koutroumbis came off in the second-half during the 2-0 win over Livingston in January and hasn’t featured since. The Motherwell manager confirmed he would be missing for a couple of weeks initially but has provided a further update on his recovery timeline.

“Johnny has had some different examinations,” Jens Berthel Askou said.

“He will be out for a period of time. How long? We don’t know. He won’t be back in the next couple of weeks. He’ll be back at some point in the spring.”

Callum Hendry is yet to feature in 2026. The forward came on as a substitute during the 2-0 win over Celtic in December at Fir Park.

Having missed a few weeks of action, it’s expected Hendry will be fit to feature in the post-split fixtures at some point.

“Cal [Hendry] will also be back in the spring,” the Motherwell manager stated.

“He has undergone a little surgery for an injury. I’m hopeful and optimistic that both Callum and Johnny will be back in the spring.”

Speedy recovery and see you back soon, lads.

Lukas Fadinger will be available for selection this weekend following his two-match suspension.