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Motherwell welcome Ross County to Fir Park on Saturday, as the Steelmen look to build on three consecutive wins.

The weekend’s visitors recently returned to the Ladbrokes Premiership, winning the Championship last campaign.

The story so far

Having topped the second tier last season with a five-point advantage over Dundee United, County have made a solid start to life back in the top flight.

With seven points from their first five matches, a streetwise squad have taken the step up in their stride.

They have plenty Premiership experience in their ranks. Marcus Fraser, Liam Fontaine, Richard Foster, Ross Draper, Michael Gardyne, Iain Vigurs and Billy McKay are well accustomed to the level, with added youth in Celtic loanee Ewan Henderson making them a formidable outfit.

Form guide

Home wins over Hamilton Academical and St Mirren have provided the basis of their points so far, while a 0-0 draw at Hearts demonstrated their ability on the road.

Defeats so far came in a heavy 4-1 home loss to Livingston and a 3-0 defeat at Aberdeen, while a Betfred Cup exit came in the second round at Partick Thistle after extra time.

How they shaped up last time

In their 2-1 win at St Mirren last time out, managers Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell made three changes from the team that had lost 3-0 at Aberdeen previous.

Liam Fontaine, Ewan Henderson and Harry Paton came in for Callum Morris, Tom Grivosti and Josh Mullin.

Marcus Fraser’s injury-time winner got the Staggies the points, after his first strike was cancelled out by Tony Andreu.

Three to watch

Marcus Fraser

Ross County captain Marcus Fraser has played a pivotal role at the heart of the Staggies defence since arriving from Celtic in 2015.

The 25-year-old has racked up 175 appearances for the Highlanders and enjoyed his most successful season of his career to date when he captained the side to the Championship title and IRN-BRU Cup in 2018/19.

Fraser’s ability to find a long pass from defence has been an impressive part of his game so far this season and he currently leads the way in the Scottish Premiership when it comes to long pass accuracy. He has completed 63.89% of his long passes – Declan Gallagher is second with 60.61%.

Joe Chalmers

After enduring a frustrating time with Motherwell, Joe Chalmers was able to kick start his career during two seasons with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

In his new role as a central midfielder, Chalmers flourished for Caley, making 96 appearances and played a key role in their run to the last four of the Scottish Cup and the Championship play-offs.

After making the trip across the Kessock bridge in the summer to join Ross County on a two-year deal, the 25-year-old got off to a flying start when he swept home the opening goal in the 3-0 victory over Hamilton.

Ross Stewart

Ross Stewart has demonstrated his abilities to make the step up to the top flight of Scottish football in the early stages of the new season.

Following on from grabbing a brace in wins over Montrose and Brechin in the Betfred Cup, he opened his Premiership account as County began their first campaign back in the top flight in style with a 3-0 triumph over Hamilton, before adding a consolation against Livingston and the opener in the win at home to St Mirren.

Stewart endeared himself to County fans with three goals against Inverness last season and he may also be a name familiar to some Motherwell fans, having scored both of the goals in the 2-1 victory over the ‘Well Colts side at Fir Park in November last year.

What they said

“Motherwell have been flying,” striker Ross Stewart said. “We know how good a team they are.

“We will get them watched and be well aware of the task in the hand.

“But we’ve got to try and build on our performances. We had a good win last week and we go down there with a belief we can get the result.

“Our home form is going to be vital for us this season. But if we can pick up points at tough places like Motherwell on Saturday, it will go a long way to where we want to be.”

Team news

Out injured: Don Cowie

Doubtful: Iain Vigurs, Lewis Spence, Lee Erwin.

Suspended: None

With three wins on the bounce, Motherwell welcome Ross County to Fir Park on Saturday.

Stephen Robinson’s men head in to the game in third spot, following the victory at Hearts last weekend.

Kick off on Saturday is at 3pm. Our Cooper Bar is open from 11am for fans of both clubs.

Tale of the tape

With wins over Hamilton, Hibernian and Hearts, the Steelmen are in form going into the match.

Sitting third in the Premiership with 10 points from a possible 15, Motherwell are separated by two points either side of Rangers in second and Aberdeen in fourth.

Ross County currently occupy seventh spot after a strong start to life back in the Premiership.

With home wins over Hamilton Academical and St Mirren, they also drew 0-0 at Hearts in the first away match. Defeats to Aberdeen and Livingston followed.

Head to head

The last meeting between the two sides came in last season’s Scottish Cup, with the Staggies winning 2-1 at Fir Park in the fourth round match.

The last league encounter between the two ended in a 0-0 draw in Dingwall in April 2018, while Motherwell won the last league match between the pair at Fir Park in January 2018 by two goals to nil.

Ticket information

Tickets are available online now or from the Fir Park ticket office for Motherwell supporters. Fans can also pay at the gate on the day.

The cheaper price is for our John Hunter Stand.

Fans who require ambulant or wheelchair access should contact Andy Sim on 07428 225254 or email tickets@mfcdsa.com.

Can’t make it? Watch or listen live

If you’re outside the UK/Ireland, you can watch Motherwell v Ross County and the majority of our Ladbrokes Premiership games this season on our live streaming service.

Priced at £12 a month, just head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk to subscribe.

Wherever you are, there’s also live audio commentary available on our streaming service for £5.99 a month.

Declan Gallagher, Sherwin Seedorf and Jermaine Hylton were all on target as Motherwell claimed a huge win in the capital.

“We will enjoy tonight. But we know we are still right at the start of things.”

Stephen Robinson speaks after Motherwell’s 3-2 win over Hearts.

Motherwell took a big three points back home in a commanding 3-2 win at Hearts.

Declan Gallagher’s header, a stunner from Sherwin Seedorf and Jermaine Hylton’s clincher ensured the win, although the hosts set up a nervy finish in front of an urging home crowd.

The Steelmen went into the game off the back of two consecutive victories, but with the feeling still of a point to prove having lost to Hearts earlier in the Betfred Cup.

Stephen Robinson made one change from the team which had blown Hibernian away before the international break. Devante Cole came into the team, with Christopher Long swapping to the bench. Mark O’Hara and Bevis Mugabi both came in on the bench.

After a tepid start, the game exploded into life from a Motherwell set play with 20 minutes on the clock.

Liam Polworth’s pinpoint corner found Gallagher at the back post, where he was waiting to bullet the header home for his first Motherwell goal.

From there, the visitors took control. Liam Donnelly rattled the crossbar as he went in pursuit of his ninth goal in nine games, while Cole also went agonisingly close to opening his account.

Motherwell remained in control in the second half, and it took seven minutes for the advantage to be doubled.

Peter Hartley’s excellent harrying of Uche Ikpeazu forced the defender into trying to bounce the ball back to his team-mates from deep. But his attempt went into acres of space in the right back area, with Jamie Brandon having bombed on.

That left acres of space for Seedorf to open up and run at goal. Closed down 25 yards from goal, he took his opportunity to rifle an unstoppable effort in at the near post, via the crossbar, to send the travelling support wild.

A home crowd growing in anger and desperation got something to give them hope nine minutes later. A scramble in the box eventually allowed the strength of Ikpeazu to give him a goal, after Mark Gillespie had done so well to keep out an initial effort.

Undeterred, Motherwell ploughed on. Five minutes later, and less than 30 seconds after entering the field as a substitute, Hylton restored the two-goal cushion.

Chasing a supposed lost cause down the flank as Sean Clare looked to have things under control, the winger took his opportunity to steal the ball on the edge of the area.

With goalkeeper Colin Doyle committed and the angle tight, the Englishman still had it all to do. But he composed himself brilliantly to squeeze the ball through the bodies and into the net.

Substitute Ryotaro Meshino set up a nervy end, after being given room to shoot past Gillespie with four minutes remaining. Then, with four minutes added, Motherwell held firm to take a huge three points home from the capital.

Supporters will be able to buy tickets for Hearts v Motherwell outside the ground on Saturday.

Fans can buy from a ticket booth situated near the away stand at Tynecastle Park from 2pm.

Sales at Fir Park will end at 4pm on Friday.

Fans who require ambulant or wheelchair access should contact Andy Sim on 07428 225254 or email tickets@mfcdsa.com.

Student tickets are available on special offer and ID must be provided when buying at the ticket booth.

Can’t make it to Tynecastle on Saturday for Hearts v Motherwell?

We’ve a live stream of the match direct from Edinburgh available to viewers outside of the UK and Ireland for just £12 a month.

To subscribe and get all Motherwell home matches – and the majority of away games – head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk now and sign up.

If you’re in the UK or Ireland and can’t make it, don’t worry. We’ve also got live audio commentary from the stadium for just £5.99 a month.

Head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk to sign up. Just choose the UK/Ireland commentary option.

2019/20 Motherwell streaming service matches

Stephen Robinson spoke of the benefits and pitfalls of the international break on Friday, as he spoke to the broadcast media.

The Motherwell boss said the time off allowed him to work with his squad on improving play and fitness. But it came at a cost, with injury to Charles Dunne.

On the benefits of the break

“We got a chance to continue working on things we’ve been doing over the early part of the season. We’ve worked hard on things.

“We’ve worked to get people fitter as well. It was something we spoke about before we broke up.

“But all in all, it’s been very good. Very positive and very refreshing with the attitudes. Because the week when you don’t have a game is very hard sometimes when you’ve got nothing to aim for.

“But the attention to detail the boys have taken on board, and the application, has been superb.”

On Charles Dunne’s injury

“Unfortunately we’ve picked up an injury with Charles Dunne. We are still waiting to assess how bad that is.But he will be out for a period of time.

“We’re not sure how long yet. We are still waiting for the scan results to come back. But we will deal with that.

“We’ve brought big Bevis in as well. He was training with us anyway, so it sped up that process.

“It’s a groin injury [with Charles]. It’s similar to what he did last year against Stranraer right at the start of the season.

“We don’t want to put any timescale on it on how serious it might be yet. But it will be a period of time.

“It will be a minimum of a month, we think, already. We will get that confirmed hopefully today.”

On facing Hearts

“Hopefully Hearts will face a different team than what they faced against us. That was, as you say, the blip in our season so far.

“We didn’t take the game to them. We had too many people that underperformed. We didn’t play with a tempo. We played in front of them a lot. We didn’t hurt them at all. We passed the ball about with lots of possession.

“So that’s things I think we’ve improved on over the last few weeks. There’s an end product to our game. There’s balls going down the sides into strikers. There’s more penetration in our game. That’s something I think Hearts will have to look at.

“We’ll face, I’ve said it time and again, arguably the third strongest squad in Scotland. They are a huge club with a massive fanbase.

“It’s somewhere I love going to play football. It’s a great stadium with great atmosphere. So we will face a hard task with a strong Hearts squad.”

On Liam Donnelly’s form

“I’m delighted for [Liam Donnelly]. We’ve worked hard with Liam.

“He hated me last season because I kept pushing him and pushing him and telling him it wasn’t good enough. Now he’s finally believing why we pushed him.

“A boy with tons of ability. It has come to the fore now but it’s come to the fore because of how hard he has worked and what condition he has turned up in this season and how hard he has pushed himself in training.

“For me he has got his just rewards. Another international cap and hopefully he’ll be involved in future squads.”

Motherwell have signed Ugandan international defender Bevis Mugabi on a short-term deal until January, subject to international clearance.

The 6ft 3in centre back, who can also fill in at full back, has agreed a deal until January after impressing on trial over the last week.

Mugabi, 24, is a product of Southampton’s youth academy, signing for the Saints at the age of 16 at the expense of an offer from Celtic.

He left for Yeovil Town in 2016, making 39 appearances in his rookie season at Huish Park, prompting then-boss Darren Way to give him a new two-year extension.

Mugabi left the club at the end of that deal back in June of this year, having played 102 games across three seasons, netting five times.

“I’m excited for a new challenge at Motherwell,” said the new signing. “I can’t wait to get started.

“I spoke to some of my old team-mates who had played in Scotland, including Alex Fisher.

“They told me it was a great opportunity, with Alex telling me how great a place Motherwell was.”

Although born in London, it was around the time of his move to Yeovil when he received his first call-up from Uganda, by the virtue of his parents, who were born in the capital Kampala.

However, he would have to wait two years before making his first appearance for the Cranes, deputising against São Tomé and Príncipe in Namboole.

He has gone on to earn a further six caps, including several appearances in this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt when he lined up against Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Britt Assombalonga amongst others.

“We’ve an injury concern over one of our centre backs, so Bevis comes in to shore up the gap that might leave,” ‘Well boss Stephen Robinson said.

“He’s an experienced player with a lot of games under his belt in England.

“He’s big, strong and will give us another option at the back.”

Motherwell head to face Hearts in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Saturday.

The Edinburgh club play host to the Steelmen, having already won at Fir Park earlier in the campaign.

The story so far

Craig Levein set about turning his squad around in the summer, bringing in seven new faces and also tying down Steven Naismith on a permanent basis.

Craig Halkett arrived from Livingston, and was joined by Conor Washington, Loic Damour and Glenn Whelan.

The loan signings of Joel Pereira from Manchester United and Ryotaro Meshino from Manchester City followed, but the former will miss out at the weekend.

Jamie Walker returned to the club after a year away at Wigan Athletic, but has since been sidelined by injury.

With four league games played, the Gorgie club sit second bottom of the table with two points gained against Hamilton Academical and Ross County at home.

Cup progression, however, was secured at Motherwell’s expense last month, setting up a last-eight tie with Aberdeen at home at the end of September.

Form guide

With nine games played, Hearts have won three, drawn four and lost two in all competitions.

In the Betfred Cup, wins over Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir came with draws with Dundee United and East Fife, with a bonus point gained in the match with the Terrors. Victory over Motherwell then followed.

Two home games with Hamilton and Ross County yieded the two league points gained so far, with defeats coming at Aberdeen and Celtic.

Team news

Out injured: John Souttar, Joel Pereira, Steven Naismith.

Doubtful: Michael Smith

Suspended: None