Latest News

Motherwell are on the road again on Saturday 14 March against Celtic in the William Hill Premiership. 

Kick off is 3pm.

How to follow the game

TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT FOR THIS MATCH! 

Tickets for this fixture are physical so therefore must be collected prior to the game or posted out. Postage will be available up until 10^th March. There will be no on the day sales at Celtic Park.

If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.

Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.

Motherwell’s Fortunes

Motherwell suffered their fourth defeat in the Premiership this season against Dundee last weekend, ending a nine-game unbeaten run.

The match against Dundee was a game in hand, meaning there was no change to the Premiership standings going into this weekend. Tawanda Maswanhise remains the league’s top scorer with 16 goals in 26 games.

Calum Ward also leads the way in Premiership clean sheets, with the Motherwell number one on 16 for the season. The Steelmen will be looking to replicate the performance levels of the previous meeting between the two sides at Fir Park. Goals from Ibrahim Said and Elliot Watt earned Motherwell their first win over Celtic in 11 years.

Opposition Report

Celtic moved past their rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup last time out, winning on penalties at Ibrox to advance to the semi-finals.

It’s now four games unbeaten for Martin O’Neill’s side as they look to close the gap to Hearts at the top of the table. Benjamin Nygren is second in the top scoring charts in the Premiership with 15 goals so far, but has 19 in all competitions.

Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney both missed Celtic’s last match, with the latter expected to return for Saturday. Auston Trusty will be suspended for the game, with Engels, Carter-Vickers, Jota, Johnston and Osmand all out also.

Jens Berthel Askou reacts to Dundee defeat.

Another month, another five games. February was jam-packed as the Steelmen continued to catch the headlines. 

Action against Rangers, Aberdeen, St Mirren and Dundee United resulted in another successful month. But the mindset doesn’t change, and as Tawanda Maswanhise and Elliot Watt say, we’ll let everyone else do the talking off the pitch.

We will remain focused and ignore the noise.

Emmanuel Longelo and his Motherwell teammates are delighted to be receiving praise from external outlets, but insists the work must continue until the end of the season so they can finish the job. 

The defender believes the full team must receive credit for what they have achieved to this point.

International Round-up

Motherwell had three first-team players representing their respective countries over the March international break.

The Scottish youth-international trio of Sophie Townsley, Mia McArthur and Jenna Penman all featured for Scotland at their respective age categories. Here’s how they got on.

Sophie Townsley

A consistent presence in a Scotland jersey, forward Sophie Townsley retained her place in Head Coach, Gary Doctor’s 20-player squad, who travelled South of the Belgian capital, Brussels – facing the Red Devils in a double-header of friendlies in Tubize.

Both matches served as preparation for the National team’s forthcoming second round of UEFA European Qualifiers.

Townsley unfortunately faced a minor injury setback during the opening training session, and despite being named amongst the substitutes for both matchday’s, the forward did not receive any minutes, with Scotland held to a draw in matchday one, before defeating Belgium in matchday two.

Mia McArthur

Midfielder Mia McArthur joined fellow Rangers loanee, and international teammate Sophie Townsley on the plane to the Belgian capital, with McArthur named in the Scottish midfield for the opening matchday. Scotland were held to a 1-1 stalemate, with Hearts’ Jess Husband converting the equaliser, with a precise free-kick.

McArthur also featured in the second meeting between the sides, returning to the pitch as a second-half substitute, with Scotland defeating the hosts 2-1. Former Motherwell striker, Laura Berry, and Liverpool’s Neve McDonald both found the target.

Jenna Penman

A late call-up for the Scotland under-23 squad, defender Jenna Penman travelled to the North of Scotland amongst Michael McArdle’s 18-strong squad to face the Netherlands at the Sarens PSG stadium in Inverness.

Penman was named amongst the substitutes, with the 22-year-old replacing Partick Thistle’s, Addie Handley in the latter stages of the game.

Jens Berthel Askou says his Motherwell side are feeling the connection with supporters, and that away performances this season so far have warranted a bigger return of points. 

The Motherwell manager discusses the positive impact of securing top-six will have on the club, and how it helps for future planning.

Motherwell have a number of players out on loan at present. Let’s see how they have been getting on. 

Aston Oxborough

Goalkeeper Aston Oxborough joined Dunfermline on loan until the end of the season at the end of February, and having signed in the morning, he made his debut later that night against Partick Thistle.

Starting in the 2-2 draw, it looks as though Neil Lennon will be trusting Oxborough as his number one for the time being. He earned his first clean sheet in his second appearance in the 2-0 win over Queen’s Park. That positive start continued midweek, when Oxborough kept back-to-back clean sheets with a 3-0 win over Ross County.

In a congested Championship table, they sit fourth in the table in the last playoff position.

Just ten points separate Ross County in tenth from Dunfermline in fourth.

• Appearances: 3
• Clean Sheets: 2

Jack McConnell

Jack McConnell is yet to make his debut for Cowdenbeath after joining the Lowland League side in January.

• Appearances: 0

Scott Williamson

Scott Williamson has experienced more game time than his teammate McConnell at Cowdenbeath.

He is on 17 appearances for the season having been an unused substitute in two of Cowdenbeath’s last three matches since our last report. He came on for the final 20 minutes last weekend in a 2-1 defeat to Linlithgow Rose.

• Appearances: 17
• Assist: 2

Kofi Balmer

Kofi Balmer has made a flying start to life at Bristol Rovers. He made his first start against Salford and hasn’t missed a minute of the action since.

Playing the full 90 minutes in the last nine outings, Balmer also scored his first Rovers goal against Walsall in stunning fashion, before scoring another wonder goal against Grimsby last week.

Rovers have picked up three wins in their last six matches, moving six points clear of the bottom. Just six points separate the bottom five sides, and Balmer and his Rovers teammates will be looking to move away from the danger zone in the coming weeks.

• Appearances: 11
• Goals: 2
• Clean Sheets: 2

Jay Gillies

Jay Gillies has featured twice since joining Cumbernauld Colts on loan. The defender started his first match against Celtic B, before coming off the bench for the final 12 minutes in a 4-0 win over Albion Rovers.

Colts are eighth in the table having played 26 games. With a number of rearranged fixtures still to be played, they could still catch a number of teams above them.

• Appearances: 2

Ewan Wilson

Ewan Wilson is up to 18 appearances for the season at Raith Rovers. Starting in the 2-1 defeat to Ayr United and the 0-0 draw with Morton, Wilson was an unused substitute for Rovers as they secured a spot in the KDM Evolution Cup final following a penalty shootout win against Airdrie.

Dougie Imrie’s side will now put focus back onto the Championship campaign as they look to try and push themselves into the top four.

• Appearances: 18
• Assists: 1

Campbell Forrest

Campbell Forrest has made three appearances for Hamilton since joining on loan.

Forrest made his debut as a second-half substitute against Kelty Hearts before earning his first start against East Fife, where he assisted the only goal of the match in Accies’ 1-0 win. He started in Hamilton’s match against Montrose, playing the first half, before being an unused substitute in their last outing against Stenhousemuir.

Accies are battling to remain in League One after points deductions this season. They have won 12 games overall so far but are on 21 points and occupy the relegation playoff spot currently.

• Appearances: 4
• Assists: 1

Olly Whyte

Olly Whyte has played six times since our last report for Stenhousemuir.

All six of those appearances were starts, with the midfielder playing every minute. Three consecutive draws in the league, scoring one goal against Inverness CT and one against Cove Rangers, Whyte also played the full 120 minutes in the narrow defeat to Premiership side Falkirk in the Scottish Cup.

He made it back-to-back goals for Stenhousemuir, scoring the winner against Stenhousemuir in a 1-0 win at Broadwood. That win extended their unbeaten run to nine games in League One.

Whyte also picked up the vote from Stenhousemuir supporters for his displays in January, winning the player of the month award at the club.

• Appearances: 35
• Goals: 8
• Assists: 1 

Dylan Wells

Dylan Wells hasn’t featured for Stirling Albion since our last report.

• Appearances: 1

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos returned home to Australia to play the rest of the season with A-League side Sydney FC.

He played the final 30 minutes in the match against Adelaide United before starting the next three matches against Auckland, Brisbane Roar and Wellington.

Sydney have won two, drawn one and lost one in Stamatelopoulos’ four matches.

• Appearances: 4

Nathan Lawson

Nathan Lawson has now played 17 games this season for Cowdenbeath.

He came on for the last 15 minutes against Gala Fairydean Rovers two weeks ago, before he was an unused substitute in Cowdenbeath’s match against Tranent. He played the final 6 minutes in Cowdenbeath’s last match against Linlithgow Rose.

• Appearances: 17
• Goals: 2
• Assists: 2

Midfielder Amy Bulloch will join Scottish Power Women’s Premier League 2 side, Kilmarnock on-loan for the remainder of the season.

 Bulloch, who joined the women of steel in the summer under Paul Brownlie, will depart the club in search of regular first-team minutes.

All the best in Ayrshire, Amy.

It’s time to vote for your G4 Claims player of the month for February. 

Stephen Welsh, Tawanda Maswanhise, Ibrahim Said and Elijah Just are all up for nomination.

To vote, head over to the Motherwell Facebook page.

Games in September

• Motherwell 1-1 Rangers
• Motherwell 2-0 Aberdeen
• Aberdeen 2-0 Motherwell
• St Mirren 0-5 Motherwell
• Motherwell 2-0 Dundee United