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Jens Berthel Askou gives his verdict on a goalless draw with Hibernian at Fir Park.

Motherwell were held to a 0-0 draw with Hibernian at Fir Park on Saturday afternoon, extending their unbeaten run at home to 12 matches. 

Elijah Just thought he opened the scoring in the first half, dispatching into the bottom corner with his right foot midway through the half, but a VAR check proved that Oscar Priestman was offside in the build-up.

The result ensured Motherwell earned their 22nd clean sheet of the season, with Calum Ward picking up his 20th in all competitions, which matched the record set by Neil Alexander for most clean sheets for a Premiership side outside of Rangers or Celtic.

There was one enforced change to the Motherwell team from last weekend. Emmanuel Longelo was serving his suspension following his red card at Celtic Park and was replaced by Stephen Welsh, with Tom Sparrow shifted over to left-back. Oscar Priestman also was given a start in place of Ibrahim Said, who was named amongst the substitutes.

The magnitude of this game was obvious ahead of kick off, as the race for European football heated up going into the final eight games. At the start of the afternoon, Hibernian were six points behind fourth-placed Motherwell and knew a win at Fir Park would halve the gap to the Steelmen.

Bright blue skies, a green pitch and another huge home attendance were the perfect setting for Well to extend their lead over Hibs in their quest for 4th spot.

The Well boss had insisted that his side control the game, and from the start the home side’s possession and high press denied the Edinburgh side time on the ball.

However, with Tawanda Maswanhise shackled by the towering pair of Warren O’Hora and Rocky Bushiri, the Fir Park men had to be content with retaining the ball and hoping to get beyond the two banks of Hibs players deployed some 30 yards from their own goal.

For all of Well’s domination, the first goal threat after 20 minutes was at Calum Ward’s end. Former Well Academy youth Nicky Cadden whipped a low ball across the six-yard area, and Tom Sparrow was alert to get in front of Martin Boyle and clear the danger.

Two minutes later Sparrow was the provider when his solid intervention directed the ball to the unmarked Priestman in the Hibs box. When his path to goal was blocked, Elijah Just nicked the ball before driving it across Raphael Sallinger and inside the keeper’s far post.

The goal celebrations were muted, though, when VAR decided that Priestman was in an offside position.

With both keepers fairly redundant, Sallinger made the first save of the afternoon when he held Elliot Watt’s swerving attempt from the edge of the box.

In the minutes before the end of a half which Ward had largely spent operating 25 yards from his goal, the Well stopper had to react to palm away Cadden’s intended cross, which was floating under the crossbar.

For all of their entertaining play in possession, the Steelmen needed a cutting edge in the second half.

It almost arrived two minutes after the restart when O’Donnell’s cut back found Maswanhise 12 yards from goal, but his weak effort was easily gathered by Sallinger.

Having been content to defend in depth in the first half, David Gray clearly sent his side out after the interval more intent on taking three points.

And it took a brilliant block from Watt at the corner of the six-yard box to prevent Jamie McGrath’s angled shot from testing Ward.

As the game approached the 65th minute, in an attempt to break the stalemate, Askou sent on Said for Priestman.

With 20 minutes remaining, the game opened up with Hibs having more of a presence in the home penalty area as both sides chased what could be a crucial three points. And with a packed area in front of him, Felix Passlack’s snapshot forced Ward into a solid save.

A quick burst of pace and cross from Sparrow found Said rising in the box, but his attempted header drifted away from the goal.

A hefty challenge on Just ended his participation, as along with Sparrow, they made way for Eythor Bjorgolfsson and Jordan McGhee to make an impact in the final five minutes.

The latter then held off a challenge to send Maswanhise into the box, but the keeper’s block and the assistant’s raised flag denied Well’s top scorer the winner.

The home side had one more chance as they pressed Hibs in their own box, but McGhee’s header from Watt’s cross was held by Sallinger under his crossbar as both teams had to settle for a point.

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

Motherwell Subs: Connelly, Gordon, McGhee, McAllister, Halliday, Said, Nicholson, Bjørgolfsson, Ross.

This game needs no introduction.

The importance of this fixture for both sides must be crystal clear to everyone who has followed the Scottish Premiership this season.

Our two previous encounters were both intense, lively and dramatic. One game was decided relatively early, and the other was lively and open till the very end.

Hibs have recruited substantially in January, providing them a lift in depth and quality while also selling their top centre forward in an impressive transfer to Serie A. Hopefully that is the start of more and bigger transfer income to clubs outside the Old Firm to reinvest and lift the level in Scottish football in the future.

Our opponents have an interesting mix of physicality, box presence, and directness, as well as some very talented and visionary players in the centre of the pitch who can dictate the game with creative passes if they get the time and space.

We need to take control of the game in and out of possession to keep them from getting free access to their wingbacks, who swing in some of the best crosses in the league.

The grass is not always greener on the other side. However, there has been quite a bit more of it away from home lately. Slightly higher temperatures and a few more glimpses of the sun since we played at Fir Park against Dundee United 3 weeks ago have provided the groundsmen with a bit more grass to handle. Something we welcome and enjoy.

It is my hope that this will help us deliver the tempo, quality and entertainment you deserve.

Enjoy the game!

Jens Berthel Askou
Manager

Tom Sparrow is quizzed on his own development this season, with all the learnings along the way. 

Despite the most recent two losses, Sparrow isn’t concerned and is fully focused on putting on a strong display from now until the end of the season.

Manager Jens Berthel Askou discusses the recent Scotland squad that contained no Motherwell players, giving his opinion on his players’ omissions. 

Askou talks about the importance of Saturday’s fixtures against Hibernian, and what it would do to consolidate fourth place.

Aston Oxborough has re-joined Dunfermline Athletic on loan until the end of the season. 

The goalkeeper was briefly recalled to Fir Park to cover the injury of goalkeeper Matty Connelly, but Connelly has recovered allowing Oxborough to head back out to continue his time at East End Park.

Good luck, Aston.

Matchday 20 of the 2025/26 SPWPL campaign awaits the women of steel this weekend, as they contest their first post-split fixture at home against Montrose at The Ross Commercial Finance Stadium at K-Park.

Encouraged by their emphatic opening post-split weekend victory over Aberdeen in the Granite City, Motherwell will be motivated to record back-to-back victories for the first-time since last season.

Debutant Keri Halliday opened her Motherwell account, with striker Carla Boyce completing her hat-trick to narrowly earn three-points in a 3-4 victory at Balmoral Stadium. Three-points which propels the women of steel to four-points behind Montrose, who occupy the seventh-place position.

The Tale of the Tape 

Motherwell 

Head Coach Iain Robinson secured his first victory of his Motherwell tenure, as the women of steel continue their efforts to evade the threat of relegation.

The women of steel remain eighth in the Scottish Power Women’s Premier League table, with victory over Montrose narrowing the deficit to one-point.

Motherwell will have their sights set on rectifying their frustrating defeat to Montrose at K-Park last August, with the Gable Endies scoring four.

Montrose

A two-nil defeat to title-chasers Rangers, and a 94^th-minute Partick Thistle winner over Hamilton Accies denied the visitors their maiden top-six finish. They have since responded in emphatic fashion, defeating Accies by six-goals to nil in their first post-split game.

Ticket Information 

Tickets can be purchased through the matchday turnstiles at K-Park. Both cash and card payments are accepted.

• Adult – £10.
• Concession (Over-65s and Under-17s) – £5.
• Under-11 – FREE TO ENTER.

Additional Information – no pets allowed within K-Park.

Matchday Travel 

• Sunday 22^nd March 2025, kick off 4PM.
• The Ross Commercial Finance Stadium at K-Park, Calderglen Country Park, East Kilbride, G75 0QZ.
• First Glasgow service No.21 stops at Jura Slip Road, a 10 minute walk from the stadium. East Kilbride railway station is approx. 20 mins away on foot.
• Free on-site parking is available, with overflow parking signposted at the park entrance. Please follow the one-way system upon your exit.
• Selection of hot food, baking, confectionary and both hot and cold drinks available at the kiosk before and during the match.

Follow our live matchday coverage on the Motherwell Women X (formerly Twitter) account.

Zander McAllister has earned his first call-up to the Scotland Under 19 squad. 

The Motherwell Academy graduate has featured four times for the first-team this season. Scotland begin their 2027 European Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign.

A new qualifying path has been put in front of Scotland, which starts with Round One this month, where Scotland have been drawn in Group A2 alongside Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Poland.

This first round has seen nations being split into League A and B, with seven groups consisting of four nations. Teams finishing fourth in their group will be relegated to League B for the second round, with League B winners being promoted to League A.

Round Two will involve more group action, with the fourth-placed teams eliminated. The winners of League B groups will take their place in the draw for Round Three.

The final round will consist of seven groups of four, where the group winners will qualify for the final tournament.

Scotland will host Group A2, kicking off their campaign against Italy on Wednesday 25 March. Their second match will be against Ireland on Saturday 28 March, before rounding off the action on Tuesday 31 March against Poland.

• Scotland U19s v Italy
• Wednesday 25th March
• 2pm Kick Off
• Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie

• Scotland U19s v Ireland
• Saturday 28 March
• 3:30pm Kick Off 
• Kirkintilloch Community Sports Stadium

• Scotland U19s v Poland
• Tuesday 31 March
• 7pm Kick Off 
• Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie

Tickets for our trip to Tynecastle will be available to buy from 10am on Thursday 19 March, which will be one ticket per season ticket holder. 

Season ticket holders have until 5pm on Thursday 26 of March to buy their tickets. Should any tickets remain, they will go on public sale.

THESE TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT.

All tickets for this game are physical so they must be collected at Fir Park prior to the game or can be posted out. Postage will be available until Tuesday 7 April.

Motherwell were looking to bounce back from the disappointment in Dundee last weekend and eye a second victory over Celtic this season. 

Heading to Parkhead is never an easy task, but Jens Berthel Askou’s men looked to play their usual style and cause an upset in Glasgow. Elijah Just got Motherwell ahead in the first-half, with the lead being cancelled out just minutes later, however, through Yang.

The game would be decided in the 70th minute when Longelo was sent off and a penalty was awarded and scored by Celtic, to give them a goal and a man advantage going into the latter stages.

Yang scored his second to end the game as a contest, as Motherwell now put full focus on next weekend’s match against Hibernian.