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Motherwell assistant boss Keith Lasley talked form, facing a dangerous opponent and prioritising constant improvement over worrying about league position on Tuesday.

Here’s what he said to the broadcast media.

On a busy December

“We do set short term targets. We don’t have an overall one if you like, but it’s good to have targets. I won’t tell you what they are, but we do. And we are striving for them in this period coming up as well.

“We know if we can take as many points as we can on the run up to this break, we put ourselves in a good position going into that break.

“We don’t have a massive squad but in many ways that’s a good thing. We’ve got a good, tight-knit group of people that are really committed. They are desperate to play and make an impact.

“I think team selection has been pretty consistent. That’s down to form more than anything across the board. But we’ve got some guys on the bench and are around about it that are itching to get in there and contribute. They’re training fantastically well and pushing on the guys that are playing.

“We’re going to need everybody. You mentioned the many games coming up and these guys staying motivated and staying hungry, which they are, is really important to us. As I said for the harmony of the whole group and pushing on.”

On facing St Mirren

“We won’t underestimate St Mirren. That’s for sure. We’ve watched most of their games.

“The manager and I were at the Hibs game last week and they were very unlucky to lose that game.

“The Aberdeen game was a very similar story. They had chances to not only draw the game, but possibly win it, when you’re looking at the chances within the game.

“We certainly know how St Mirren have been playing and we’ll give them the respect that they deserve.

“You see how tight it is from bottom to top and we need to be at it tomorrow night. That’s what we can take care of and why we will be preparing as well as we do.”

On recent form

“We look at our form in general to be honest. We don’t get too uptight about away form. We just want to win football matches. We managed to do that on Saturday and we want to carry it on into tomorrow night.

“Before that, funnily enough our away form has been pretty good overall. But it’s certainly not something that we’re conscious of, or really thinking about on a daily basis.

“It’s just another game of football for us and it’s about being ready for that game. Our preparation has been good. It was a good result on Saturday but we felt as if aspects of our play could have been better.

“That’s the good thing for ourselves. We still think that there’s more to come from this team and hopefully in these upcoming games you’ll see that.”

Our William Hill Scottish Cup match with Dundee will be played on Saturday, 18 January with a 7.20pm kick off.

The game at Dens Park will be shown live on BBC Scotland.

Ticket information will be available shortly.

It’s straight back to Ladbrokes Premiership action on Wednesday night, as Motherwell head to St Mirren.

Kick-off at the Simple Digital Arena is at 7.45pm.

Tale of the tape

Motherwell have won three of their last five, all at home, against Kilmarnock, Livingston and St Johnstone. On the road, they’ve lost at Celtic and Hibernian in the same time period.

St Mirren have won one and lost four of their last five. A 2-1 home victory over Ross County came in the run, as did defeats against Aberdeen, Hibernian, Hearts and Celtic.

Head to head

Motherwell have won three of their last five matches against the Paisley side, with one draw and one win for St Mirren.

The Steelmen have won their last two visits west, winning 2-0 and 2-1 respectively last campaign.

Get your tickets in advance

There are no cash gates are available at St Mirren. Tickets can be bought from an away ticket booth on the night.

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

Wherever you are, there’s live audio commentary available on our streaming service for £5.99 a month. Just head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk to subscribe.

Our popular calendar signing will be held this year on Thursday, 12 December.

The first team squad will be at the Centenary Suite at Fir Park between 6pm and 7.30pm on the night to meet fans and sign autographs. Just turn up on the night to see the squad.

Calendars can be purchased from the club shop from Monday, 9 December in store or online at motherwelldirect.co.uk.

Devante Cole, Peter Hartley, Jake Carroll and Christy Manzinga all net as Motherwell run out convincing winners over St Johnstone.

“It was a fantastic result. But we can play better. We defended brilliantly and we were ruthless when we had to be.”

Stephen Robinson reacts to the 4-0 win over St Johnstone.

Motherwell eventually overcame a very determined St Johnstone to make it four wins from their last five home games and strengthen their grip on fourth place in Ladbrokes Premiership.

After a cold start on a freezing afternoon, Devante Cole’s goal just before the half hour raised the home side’s tempo.

Peter Hartley headed home a second four minutes into the second half to give ‘Well the upper hand, before Jake Carroll and a late goal from debutant Christy Manzinga gave the Fir Parkers a deserved, workmanlike win.

Stephen Robinson made one change from the side which played well but left Easter Road empty handed. Liam Donnelly returned to the heart of the Motherwell midfield, with Barry Maguire stepping down.

Eager to put two consecutive away defeats behind them, the Steelmen started the game with great intent. But it was Saints, helped by some slack passing in the home ranks, who put some early pressure on Mark Gillespie’s goal.

After 11 minutes Anthony Ralston drive towards the home box ended with a low drive which provided Gillespie with his first save of the afternoon. A minute later, after another poor pass set up Chris Kane, Peter Hartley blocked the striker’s powerful shot.

Gradually, ‘Well gained a couple of openings around the Saints box.

In the 23rd minute, Liam Grimshaw dragged the ball across the visitor’s penalty area before feeding Long, whose angled drive flew narrowly across goal. Three minutes later Hylton was even closer with a sweet 20 yard drive which had Clark flying across his goal.

The increased tempo from the home side had Saints on the back foot and it was no surprise when ‘Well opened the scoring in the 29th minute.

Close to the byline Hylton’s trickery left Ralston on the ground, and when the winger’s lofted ball found Cole towering above Jason Kerr at the back of the six yard box, his downward header sped beyond Clark for his fourth goal of the season.

Motherwell should have extended their advantage as Saints struggled but a series of misplaced passes let the visitors off the hook.

Seven minutes from half-time, Kane’s cute back healer four yards from goal almost punished ‘Well for their carelessness. While the Perth men had plenty of the ball, ‘Well looked more dangerous around goal.

It was quite a different start to the second 45 as ‘Well immediately pressed the Saints into defence.

And after being denied just before the break Hartley took only four minutes to find the net. A brilliant burst into the box by Hylton earned a corner. And when Polworth delivered the ball towards the ‘huddle’ of ‘Well players, Hartley stretched to fire his header through a ruck of players and give his side a more comfortable lead.

Great strength and pace from Cole carried him into the box but with Long completely unmarked the on-loan Wigan striker screwed his shot wide of goal.

Long’s hard working hour was recognised by the fans as he made way for James Scott – as ‘Well looked to extend their lead.

However, for a spell it was Saints who looked the more likely to get the next goal and drag themselves back into the game. And a positive double substitution by Tommy Wright with 23 minutes remaining was aimed to give his side an extra spark.

Then out of nothing Hylton won the ball five yards outside the Saints’ box and his low curling shot forced a fine diving save from Clark, as Cole tried to latch onto the rebound.

A couple of minutes later more good work from Hylton led to another corner. Once again Polworth’s delivery from the corner flag found a team mate and when Declan Gallagher’s header bounced off the post, Carroll stabbed home the rebound for his first goal in claret and amber.

With 15 minutes remaining, and having made a major contribution, Hylton came off allowing fans their first glimpse at home of Christy Manzinga.

And the Belgian marked his debut with a goal a minute from time. All three subs combined as Scott broke from his own half and when his pass found Mark O’Hara, he nodded the ball into the path of Manzinga who coolly steered the ball beyond Clark and make it 4-0 and round off a solid afternoon’s work.

There’s live video and audio available from Motherwell v St Johnstone on Saturday.

We’ve a live stream of the match available to viewers outside of the UK and Ireland for just £12 a month. Kick off is at 3pm GMT.

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 of the match 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

Motherwell are back in action at St Mirren on Wednesday, 4 December.

Kick off in Paisley is at 7.45pm for the Ladbrokes Premiership match.

Tickets are available online now or from the Fir Park ticket office.

There are no cash gates are available at St Mirren. Pre-purchase is encouraged from the Fir Park ticket office or online to save queues at the away ticket booth on the night.

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

Stephen Robinson spoke about the loss to Hibernian, facing St Johnstone and the importance of the next block of games on Friday.

Here’s what he said to the broadcast media.

On defeat to Hibernian

“Obviously we were disappointed by the result. But when I look back on it, there were a lot of positives in the game.

“We’ve reiterated to the boys about the basics of football and staying with runners. We got punished. Hibs were ruthless in punishing us in the chances they had.

“That’s the level. That’s the level of players you’re playing against. You can’t afford to make those mistakes. And we’ve worked on that during the week.

“We know we’re in for a very tough game again against St Johnstone. So we have to put that right, but also continue with the positive aspects of the performance and keep trying to play and create the chances that we did.

“We didn’t deserve to take anything from the game. Because we didn’t do the basics. Make no mistake about that.

“But our general play from box to box was very good. There was some very good football involved, but our end product and our delivery and our final pass wasn’t quite there.

“It happens sometimes. And Hibs defended it well and we didn’t stay with our runners, which is a basic thing in football. You can work on everything, but if you don’t do the basics right, you lose football matches. So that was our lesson.”

On the forthcoming fixtures

“I think the next three games are huge for us. It gives us an opportunity to stay where we are and maybe even gain ground.

“The league is very tight. There’s not very much, I don’t think, between any team that you play. Outside of the top two, there’s not a lot in it.

“Key things in the game are what win things at times. If key moments go for you, or against you, it can dictate the result.

“We are a team that has to be patient. We don’t have a massive targetman that we can launch balls up to. And that’s not what we want to do.

“We want to be patient. We want to break teams down. It’s that quality in the final third. Getting that consistency from our front players and help them with their decision making.

“That’s the key to it, the decisions in the final third. If you watch Celtic and Rangers last night in Europe, both terrific results, the key to it is it doesn’t matter how much possession there is. Their forward players are the key to winning and losing football matches.

“We have to bring more ruthlessness to our game and decision making in that final third.”

On facing St Johnstone

“Tommy always has them well organised.  I think their league position doesn’t suggest how they’ve played at times. It’s so tight down there, there’s not a lot of difference between bottom and sixth. There’s very little difference between it.

“I think it’d be a hard game. I think they will sit in at times. We’re going to have to break teams down. But our boys have to take that as a compliment. You know, people didn’t used to come to Motherwell and sit in. They do now and they try and hit is on the counter attack.

“So that’s something we have to be aware of because St Johnstone have got pace up top with their front three and they’re dangerous.

“We have to go in with a real positive mindset. Take the game to St Johnstone and try and get three points in the board, get us back on another winning run.

“I think Tommy’s record speaks for itself over the years and what he’s done with St Johnstone. He’s massively overachieved and we will expect them to be organised.

“I think he’s signed some very good players. I think they’ve got a good squad on paper and you know, he’ll always be looking to turn that into results. But hopefully it won’t be starting Saturday.”