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Motherwell FC can today confirm the loan signing of Grenada International Anthony Straker from York City.

Straker, who was born in Ealing in London but has eight caps for the Caribbean Island, may have been a Motherwell player several years ago, but a deal to bring him to Fir Park fell through.

The 26-year old, who can play either at left back or the left hand side of midfield, came through the youth ranks at Crystal Palace and was an England Under 18 International at the time, before dropping a level to play for Aldershot Town.

Straker played 229 times for the Shots, including their promotion-winning season of 2007-08. He then joined Southend United and enjoyed two busy seasons with the Shrimpers.

He was offered at new deal to stay at Roots Hall, but opted for a change and joined Nigel Worthington at York City, who had narrowly missed out on the play-offs in 2013-14.

The former Northern Ireland boss left the club after a poor start to the campaign and Straker has fallen out of favour with new boss Russ Wilcox.

[pullquote]I’ll come in and give my all. I want to show the supporters what I can do and come off the pitch knowing I’ve given everything for the team.[/pullquote]

With Stevie Hammell and Zaine Francis-Angol both recovering from surgery, he will provide cover on the left hand side of the pitch until the end of the current campaign.

Speaking to motherwellfc.co.uk, boss Ian Baraclough said: “Anthony is someone who I have known for some time now and I am delighted to get him on board.

“He is versatile enough to play either at left back or pushed on one at left midfield. He is full of energy, has got pace and a lot of experience being involved in promotion winning teams down south as well as playing International football.

“Most importantly though he is hungry to play and show what he can do. He’s the type of character we need at the moment.”

Straker added: “I can’t wait to get involved and hopefully being part of a team week in and week out.

“I’ll come in and give me all. I want to show the supporters what I can do and come off the pitch knowing I’ve given everything for the team.”

Henrik Ojamaa has informed the club he will not extend his loan agreement at Fir Park.

The on-loan Legia Warsaw striker, who was enjoying his second spell in North Lanarkshire, had been at the club since mid August, playing 20 times and scoring four goals.

The club wanted to extend that agreement until the end of the campaign, but the Estonian International has opted to try something different.

[pullquote]There is certainly no bad feelings or ill will, we made him the absolute best offer we could, but he wants to try something different. We respect that; that is football.[/pullquote]

‘Well boss Ian Baraclough said: “Both Henrik and his agent notified the club yesterday that he wouldn’t be taking up our offer.

“There is certainly no bad feelings or ill will, we made him the absolute best offer we could, but he wants to try something different. We respect that; that is football.

“We asked them for an early answer to ensure we could pursue other targets prior to the window closing next Monday.

“On behalf of the club, I would like to thank Henrik for his contribution and wish him every success in his new venture.”

Willie Collum will take charge of Saturday’s Scottish Premiership meeting with St Johnstone at Fir Park.

Regarded as one of Scotland’s best and most recognisable officials, Willie will be handling his fifth ‘Well game of the new campaign.

The first was at Rugby Park in late August, the home side running out comfortable 2-0 winners. The game didn’t pass without controversy, with Stuart McCall left frustrated at a number of decisions involving Manual Pascali and a missed handball in the box.

The second was the instantly forgettable 0-4 reverse against Hamilton Accies at Fir Park. When goals from Mickael Antoine-Curier, Tony Andreu and a double from Ali Crawford gave the Accies their biggest win at Fir Park in over 80 years,

He was the man in the middle for the 2-2 draw with Ross County when Tony Dingwall’s double, including a 94th minute equaliser, cancelled out John Sutton and Henrik Ojamaa’s goals.

Most recently, he took charge of Motherwell’s 2-0 defeat to Aberdeen, in which he controversially sent off Stephen McManus; a decision which was later rescinded after an appeal.

He took charge of three during the 2013/14 season too.

His first was a 3-0 win over St Mirren back in December when Lionel Ainsworth and a Henri Anier double separated the sides.

The second was at Tynecastle a few weeks later, John Sutton scoring the game’s only goal.

The last was the 2-1 win over Inverness back in May with goals coming from Sutton and a Gary Warren OG.

Willie is no stranger to ‘Well fans having been a top-flight whistler for a number of years, taking charge of six Motherwell matches the previous term too.

The first was the 1-0 defeat to Hearts in October 2012 when Danny Grainger’s long-range effort separated the sides.

He also took charge of both William Hill Scottish Cup clashes with Aberdeen in December.

In the first meeting at Pittodrie, Niall McGinn headed home a late equaliser to cancel out Jamie Murphy’s opener 10 minutes from time.

There would be disappointment for the Steelmen in the replay as goals from Rory Fallon and Joe Shaughnessy helped the Dons progress to the next round.

Motherwell were handed a lifeline in injury-time when Michael Higdon netted from the penalty spot, however Craig Brown’s side held firm in the final minutes.

He was also the man in the middle for the narrow 3-2 win over St Johnstone in January; Michael Higdon’s hat-trick sealing a terrific three points and also the disappointing 3-0 defeat at Ross County shortly after.

He also handled the James McFadden-inspired 4-1 victory over Hibs in March and, finally, the 4-3 defeat to Inverness Caley in the Highlands in May.

His overall record in charge of the Steelmen reads eight wins, fifteen defeats and six draws from twenty-nine matches (in all competitions).

In those games, Motherwell have scored 39 and conceded 54.

59 players have gone into the book, 30 wearing Claret and Amber, while five players have been dismissed – Ian Murray of Hibs at Easter Road five years back, Jerard Aafjes at Falkirk four seasons ago, Paul Dixon at the end of 2009/10, Henrik Ojamaa in that game at Caley fifteen months ago and Fraser Kerr down at Rugby Park. Stephen McManus was shown a red card against Aberdeen but that was later rescinded after an appeal

Willie will be assisted by Alan Mulvanny and Graeme Stewart with Gavin Ross listed as fourth official.

 Extended highlights from East End Park as Motherwell U20s draw 2-2 with Dunfermline Athletic.

Under 20s boss Jonatan Johansson was satisfied with his side despite losing a last-gasp goal at East End Park tonight.

A very young Steelmen side were up against a far more experienced Pars and trailed early on, before getting their noses in front thanks to Chris Cadden and Dom Thomas.

The three points looked to be heading back to Lanarkshire but for a 91st minute leveler to put something of a dampener on things.

However, given it was the first game in five weeks and such an inexperienced side, the former Finnish International choose to take positives.

[pullquote]We looked quite comfortable and were winning the ball high up the pitch, but maybe showed a bit of naivety at the end, chasing more goals as opposed to seeing the game out.[/pullquote]

“Overall I am quite pleased,” Johansson said after the match.

“I thought we started quite poorly and you could tell we hadn’t played a competitive game in almost five weeks.

“We weren’t pressing hard enough and weren’t showing enough aggression and gave a away a goal from a set-play again. We’ve talked about that before and those goals are costing us this season.

“We then played quite well and deserved to take the lead when we did. We looked quite comfortable and were winning the ball high up the pitch, but maybe showed a bit of naivety at the end, chasing more goals as opposed to seeing the game out.

A youthful Motherwell U20s were held to a 2-2 draw by Dunfermline at East End Park this evening.

After going behind early on, Chris Cadden and Dom Thomas had the Steelmen in front and looking good for all three points.

However, with almost the last kick of the ball, Pars sub PJ Crossan fired a long-range shot bouncing past Brett Long to rescue a point.

For their first match back after the winter showdown, Jonatan Johansson made six changes to the team that lost to Aberdeen at Station Park. Gunnar Nielsen, Danny McNulty, Luke Watt, Morgyn Neill, Lee Erwin and Dylan Mackin all dropped out, replaced by Brett Long, Jack McMillan, David Ferguson, Adam Cummins, Craig McCall and Craig Moore.

The Pars, coached by ex ‘Well favourite Jim Paterson, were far more experienced and including first-teamers Lewis Spence, Ryan Thomson, Allan Smith and Faissal El Bakhtaoui in their starting eleven.

The Steelmen made the worst start possible when the Pars opened the scoring with their first attack.

Scott Mercer’s pinpoint corner from the left was perfect for fellow defender Declan O’Kane and he rose unopposed at the back post to head home from close range.

Incredibly, just seconds later, Motherwell might have leveled. A nice ball in from the right eventually landed at Steven Higgins and his sfirst-time hot looked net bound, but for a timely defensive block by Mercer at the expense of a corner.

Pars were setting the early pace though and El Bakhtaoui almost doubled his side’s advantage. The French-Moroccan front man skipped past a number of challenges only for his low shot to be kept out by a combination of Brett Long and the right hand post.

‘Well looked threatening on the counter and came close to leveling through Higgins again after good hold up play from Craig Moore, however the low bouncing shot went a yard or side wide of the post with Ryan Goodfellow at full stretch.

Higgins was proving the main threat for the Steelmen in the first half and he brought out a good stop from Goodfellow. Thomas and MacLean combined to create the chance, Higgins eventually smashing the shot at goal, forcing the Pars stopper to tip over.

It stayed 1-0 until the 38th minute when ‘Well got themselves level and it again came from a counter. MacLean put the Fir Parkers on the attack, eventually laying it forward for Moore. The little striker did well to keep possession before teeing up Cadden who flashed a low shot under Goodfellow and into the corner of the net.

Buoyed by their goal, ‘Well went immediately on the attack and should have been awarded a penalty when Moore was tripped in the area, unfortunately nothing doing from referee Scott Lambie.

At the other end, O’Kane had another header, this time from a free kick, but it was straight at Long who saved.

The Steelmen started the second half on the front foot and Thomas posted early intentions with a shot narrowly over the crossbar.

Mercer had a free kick straight at Long and MacLean had a similar effort from distance comfortably blocked by Goodfellow before ‘Well took the lead in spectacular circumstances.

Dom Thomas was the scorer, curling a superb free-kick high into the top corner after Stuart Urquhart had pushed Moore to the ground.

Confidence was up and ‘Well started to take control of the game. Within a minute, Cadden had brought out another save from the Pars keeper, who got down well to hold the low shot.

Thomas was tormenting the home defence with jinking runs and almost scored a wonder goal, beating two men on the edge of the area before dragging a shot just wide of target.

Play swung from end-to-end with both sides passing up chances to score. Higgins at one end, with Pars desperately clearing, and El Bakhtaoui at the other end sending a bouncing shot just wide.

The home side came within inches of leveling with a Mercer free kick that bounced inches wide. Thomas tried something similar at the other end, only for his effort to fly a yard or so over the bar.

‘Well had a chance to settle it only for Thomas to fire over before Pars leveled things up with the last kick of the ball. Substitute PJ Crossan collected an excellent forward pass, turned before striking it low past Long to earn his side a point.

Motherwell: Long, McMillan (McNulty – 76mins, Ferguson, Cummins, McCall, MacLean, Cadden, Thomas, Higgins, Moore (R.Leitch – 63mins), Hall

Subs Not Used: Currie, Campbell, Anderson, Watters

Jonatan Johansson’s Under 20s are in action tonight when they take on Dunfermline at East End Park .

The young Steelmen have had a mini winter break, with the previous two fixtures against Hearts and Partick Thistle being postponed due to bad weather.

A win could take the Fir Parkers above tonight’s opposition, whose last outing was a 3-2 defeat to Hibs two weeks ago.

The match takes place tonight (Monday 26th January). Kick off is 7pm.

 Extended highlights from Tannadice where a battling Motherwell were beaten 3-1 by Dundee Utd

‘Well boss Ian Baraclough took heart from his team’s performance, despite the 3-1 defeat at Tannadice today.

The Steelmen have been on a miserable run of form in recent weeks and although they weren’t able to stop the rot in terms of results, most ‘Well fans in attendance will have been heartened by the vastly improved display.

The Fir Parkers were denied a clear penalty kick after sixteen minutes and even thought they had taken the lead through John Sutton only to see the goal chalked off after the referee and his assistant ruled the ball hadn’t crossed the line.

‘Well did drop behind courtesy of goals from Telfer and Fojuit, but Simon Ramsden brought the visitors back into it with ten minutes left to play.

It looked as if Baraclough’s men might go on to earn a deserved share of the spoils, but alas, another goal from Telfer in the dying seconds ended those efforts.

[pullquote]All over, despite the loss, it was an encouraging performance. We’ve now got to build on that, ensure that sort of commitment is not a one off and go into next week’s game with the backing of our support.[/pullquote]

The ‘Well boss commented: “I said a couple of weeks ago that there is ways to lose a football game and that was probably one today.

“We’ve came off the park having given everything and the travelling fans saw plenty of heart, spirit, desire and commitment.

“I think we’ve been hard done to with a couple of decisions from the match officials but I don’t want that to detract away from elements of our performance.

“We created chances and never stopped going, even after going down 0-2. We kept driving forward and scored a great goal through Simon Ramsden.

“All over, despite the loss, it was an encouraging performance. We’ve now got to build on that, ensure that sort of commitment is not a one off and go into next week’s game with the backing of our support.

“They will have seen that despite everything, we’re still together and that gives us hope.”

Action pictures from today’s 3-1 SPFL Premiership defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix.

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