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Craig Brown is desperate for ‘Well to continue their excellent away form this season with a win in Inverness, and at the same time banish the memories of a disappointing Lanarkshire Derby to the recesses of history.

The Steelmen have only lost one away match this campaign, and can look back on successful trips to Hearts, St. Johnstone and Kilmarnock so far – but the mammoth trip to the Highlands could be the toughest so far.

Naturally, the gaffer is keen to carry on the excellent record on the road: “Having only lost one away game we can go to any venue without any inferiority complex; we know we are capable of winning in difficult places.

“We were well in the game against Rangers up until around the hour mark, so even that defeat was not reflective of our performance.

“I think it is fashionable to win away from because the onus is on the home team to attack, the crowd is sucking them forward and it is hard to keep the defensive discipline when the expectation is that you should attack. That is something we will look to exploit.”

Despite Brown’s palpable confidence, he is all too aware that Terry Butcher’s high-flying Caley will pose a huge threat to his troops.

The newly-promoted Highlanders currently sit in fourth spot in the SPL, and could leapfrog the Lanarkshire men into third spot with a win on Saturday.

By most accounts Caley have overachieved, but it isn’t something that surprises the ‘Well boss.

He continued: “Inverness have a winning mentality after being promoted last year. Because a team is used to winning matches they keep on winning and play well.

“Every team which comes up usually does well, you can see that with the likes of Blackpool and, previously, Hull City in the English Premiership. That is the norm.

“It will be a case of retaining that in the face of adversity, which more established teams might be used to.”

‘Well are looking for a good response following the controversial 1-0 defeat against Hamilton last weekend, but the boss refutes any suggestion Motherwell were poor in the defeat. Instead he is looking for a turnaround in fortunes.

“I thought our response in the second half of the match was good,” he said. “But there were mitigating circumstances last week.

“We had all the possession and all the attack; the corner count was ten against two. If we were hopeless and never in the game then I would be worried, but apart from the goal we were good, and there is certainly no despondency about.

“We missed a penalty and arguably should have had another two, but these are ‘ifs and buts’, and I don’t like to dwell on those.”

Two players who will have a huge bearing on Saturday’s result – whether due to their presence or their absence – will be Keith Lasley and Jamie Murphy.

Both players missed out on the defeat to Hamilton last weekend, and Brown is keeping his fingers crossed they could make a welcome return at the Caledonian Stadium.

“Lasley and Murphy will travel to Inverness and they are in contention for selection,” he confirmed.

“We’ll know more after our final training session, but at the moment we are hopeful they will be available.”

With almost a quarter of the season gone how are you performing in this year’s Clydesdale Bank Score Selector?

Whether you are chasing for glory, falling behind or yet to even feature this season, there are still lots of superb prizes up for grabs.

The top points scorer every month instantly wins £500 and our weekly winner secures a Clydesdale Bank personal DAB digital radio.  So even if you have missed a couple of weeks or are yet to register, you can still be a winner.

Our prize of £5000 for the first person to correctly predict all 6 Clydesdale Bank Premier League results over the course of a weekend is also still available.  So if your football knowledge is up to scratch you could secure the prize in the run up to Christmas.

You can also help us out in the club mini leagues section by securing as many points as possible and guiding us to the top of the Score Selector league.  As well as club leagues Score Selector also offers fans mini leagues so you can pit yourself against friends, family and workmates as you attempt to predict the weekend’s SPL results.

For your opportunity to win the great prizes on offer visit www.cbfootball.co.uk.

Motherwell’s Co-operative Insurance Cup Semi Final clash with Rangers will take place on Sunday 30th January 2011 and will be shown live on the BBC.

Having disposed of Brechin City and Dundee United in earlier rounds, the Steelmen face Walter Smith’s men at Hampden with the winner taking their place in the lucrative Final in March.

Motherwell last played at this stage back in 2006 when a last-minute Shaun Maloney goal broke hearts and helped Celtic advance.

Craig Brown will be hoping to go one better this time around but face a difficult task against the current holders.

Kick-off for the match will be 3pm.

Ticket Information has yet to be confirmed.

Referee for Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Inverness Caley will be Mike Tumilty.

Despite it only being week 11 of the 2010-2011 SPL calendar, 39-year-old Tumilty will be taking charge of his third ‘Well game of the campaign, having previously been the man in the middle for the 1-0 win at Rugby Park back in August and the 2-0 away success at Tynecastle at the end of September..

It will be Mike’s fifth SPL encounter of the season; he overseen Dundee Utd’s 3-1 win over Aberdeen, infamous for former ‘Well boss Mark McGhee been sent to the stand for kicking a wayward ball and St Johnstone’s 2-1 win over Hamilton at New Douglas Park.

He was also the man in charge as Rangers ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Kilmarnock in the Co-operative Insurance Cup Quarter Final last midweek.

Three games is more than he managed the whole of last season, where he took charge of just the one ‘Well game. That was at Fir Park; a single Lukas Jutkiewicz goal was enough to give the Steelmen a 1-0 win over local rivals Hamilton Accies in February.

The season before last, he overseen the home win against Accies (again) as well the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Kilmarnock in a miserable Monday night at Fir Park – live on the now defunct Setanta Sports.

His overall record in charge of Motherwell is pretty good. Of the nine Motherwell games he has officiated, the Steelmen have won seven, drawn nil and lost two. Sixteen goals have hit the back of the opponents net, whilst only seven have been conceded.

30 yellow cards have been flashed in those games, 18 to a player wearing Claret and Amber. Thankfully, not one single player has seen red.

He will be ably assisted by James Bee and Keith Sorbie with Brian Colvin appointed as fourth official.

Motherwell will hope to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat at home to Hamilton when they take on Terry Butcher’s Inverness in the Highlands.

‘Well fans will make the long journey up the A9 hoping the Steelmen can continue their very decent record at the Caledonian Stadium, having won eight times from twelve in the Highland Capital.

However, Butcher and Malpas, who enjoyed a successful spell at Fir Park, have Caley playing excellently well and a point at Ibrox last Saturday was warning enough, if it was required, of their quality.

Craig Brown will also remember all too well the Scottish Cup tie their last January when the home side ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

It’s third versus fourth; the scene is set for what should be an enthralling encounter.

Motherwell fans will be housed in the usual South Stand with tickets available on the gate priced at:

Adult: £20
Concession: £15

* Concessions are listed as Senior Citizens (born on or before 31st July 1950) and Full-Time 10/11 School, College or University students.
* Fans requiring Wheelchair Accessible Area tickets should contact the club at tickets@motherwellfc.co.uk or telephone 01698 338068

SUPPORTERS ASSOCIATION COACHES

JOINT COACH

The Motherwell Supporters Association will run a joint coach to Saturday’s match in Inverness. Picking up at Wishaw at 9.30am, then at the Bentley Hotel at 10am.

To book seats please phone Anne on 01698 470601 or email andrew.sim48@btinternet.com as soon as possible OR Phone Jim on (01698) 299650 or e-mail Christopher on christopher_hutton@btinternet.com to book seats.

With Christmas just over seven weeks away, why not order your commemorative brick at Fir Park so it is fitted and in-place for when Santa visits.

For a nominal sum, you can purchase a brick fascia with your own personal message; your name, motto or date of birth; to commemorate an anniversary or celebrate the life of a loved one.

Or given the festive season is now approaching, perhaps a message with a touch of winter cheer

Each new brick is added to our ever growing wall, which is situated at the turnstile entrances of the Davie Cooper Stand. It’s the perfect way to make your mark at Fir Park and show your unswerving loyalty to Motherwell and celebrate the holidays.

Each brick comes with an Official Certificate, which can be framed and kept by the recipient as a permanent reminder. If you order now, this – along with the brick placement – will be yours in plenty of time for December 25th.

Cement your name in Fir Park history now by contracting the club. Cooper Wall Bricks cost only £30, so call our commercial team on 01698 338008 or email buyabrick@motherwellfc.co.uk.

Craig Brown admirably kept his cool in the wake of this afternoon’s defeat at the hands of Hamilton Accies.

The Steelmen were the victims of one or two contentious decisions from the match official, Craig Thomson, but Brown refused to join in the condemnation.

“I don’t want any player at any time to be sent off in fact, I don’t want to get into the referee debate at all,” said the former Scotland boss.

“You saw the game, I saw the game but I’ll talk about us missing the penalty and our second-half performance, which was good.  I haven’t sought any explanation from Craig Thomson (the referee), I think you’re clutching at straws if you’re wanting an opponent to be sent off.”

Instead, Brown praised the performance of the visitors and bemoaned the lack of breaks his team got.

Motherwell missed a penalty, hit the post and had a header cleared off the line in their search for a leveller.

A frustrated Brown added: “I think we did enough, we just didn’t get the breaks. We played well in the second half and poorly in the first half.

“We should have done more with the free-kicks and we had a lot of corners, but they were scrambling them away.

“But Hamilton are a team up for the occasion and they battled well. You can’t start as badly as we did and expect to win derby matches. When you miss a penalty and don’t play well, it’s a mountain to climb in the second half.

“I felt we were likely to score, but quite clearly, we didn’t – and good credit to the Hamilton defence.”

Pictures from the 1-0 defeat to Hamilton Accies in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at Fir Park. These action shots and more are available to buy online at www.motherwellpics.com.

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[tab:Match report]

Hamilton Accies won at Fir Park for the first time in the Premier League but the game was once again marred, sadly, by bizarre refereeing decisions.

Accies had taken the lead through Nigel Hasselbaink, the striker doing superbly well to turn and score from the edge of the area after just fifteen minutes.

Motherwell would push and push for an equaliser but were on the end of some debateable calls from match official Craig Thomson.

The first; a failure to take any action against Martin Canning despite the defender denying Nick Blackman what looked like a clear goal scoring opportunity when he was brought down for a penalty. The second, as the game was nearing its climax, was a handball on the line by Dougie Imrie after Alan Gow had got on the end of a Ross Forbes cross.

It made for an intensely frustrating afternoon for the Steelmen and brings to an end a run of three successive home victories.

Motherwell made just one change from the midweek success against Dundee United. Ross Forbes started in place of the injured Jamie Murphy who narrowly missed out with an ankle injury.

The visitors started much the brighter and took only two minutes to threaten when Dougie Imrie came within an inch of putting his side one up. The former Inverness man whipped in a terrific free-kick that missed everyone and somehow dropped wide of the post. An early let-off for Brown’s men no doubt!

Two minutes later, pint-sized Hasselbaink got on the end of a Flavio Paixao cross from the right to header over. The post-mortem was quick to follow amongst the ‘Well defender at just how the 5ft 6 striker managed to win the header in a populated six yard box.

It was end-to-end stuff and both teams were trading chances. Simon Mensing fired way wide after being set-up by a terrific Paixao through ball, and, for Motherwell, Nick Blackman got the better of Canning before firing high over the bar.

The chances would eventually lead to a goal and it was the visitors who would take the lead. Hasselbaink, who had earlier missed a header, picked up the ball on the edge of the area. Turning Ross Forbes, he flashed a curling shot in off the far post for 1-0.

Accies followed that with a long range free-kick from Paixao that was comfortable for Randolph to pluck out the air. Five minutes later, they again threatened with Paixao somehow managed to squeeze past Hammell on the flank and his cutback fell kindly for Mensing but his deflected effort was well saved by Randolph at the second attempt.

Hamilton were doing an efficient job in nullifying the Motherwell threat and, at the same time hitting on the counter. They almost made it two-nil when a Paixao corner from the left drifted all the way to Jim Goodwin at the back post but the defender could only slice way over the bar.

The game descended into a midfield scrap with both teams guilty of being slack in possession. It would be Brown’s men who would threaten next. Left-back Hammell robbed Paixao on the flank and, striding forward, he unleashed a shot that flew over Cerny’s bar. The Steelmen veteran probably had better options but with six and a half years since his last ‘Well goal, few could blame the 28-year-old.

Five minutes before the break came the game-changing call from the referee. Chris Humphrey did well to dribble past McLaughlin and get to the byline. His pulled-back pass was perfect for Blackman who had an easy tap in but, before he could, he was crudely pushed by Martin Canning and referee Thomson rightly pointed to the spot. Incredibly though, no further action was taken against the former Gretna man despite clearly denying a goal scoring opportunity.

Worse was to follow as Tom Hateley’s spot kick was expertly saved by Tomas Cerny low to his right hand post.

Into the second half and it took about fifteen minutes for either side to threaten and it was ‘Well who should’ve got level. Ross Forbes’ lovely teed up ball found Alan Gow all alone inside the box but his header was somehow bundled off the line by the arm of Imrie. How much he knew about it is up for debate but it most certainly hit his arm on the line and it stopped the ball going into the net. Decision from the referee… Corner!

‘Well went closer still when Saunders headed a Hateley header off the post.

Down the other end, Accies were content to sit in but had a rare venture up the park when Dougie Imrie fired a free-kick just over Randolph’s bar.

The remaining quarter of an hour was spent with the Steelmen camped in Accies half but despite good chances for Forbes and Hateley from free-kick’s, and a succession of corners, all of which cleared by the packed Accies defence, Motherwell couldn’t find an equaliser.

Referee Thomson brought the game to an end with just four minutes of injury time, itself bizarrely short give the amount of time the game had to be stopped. A chorus of boos filled Fir Park – how much of that was directed at the match officials was anyone’s guess.

[tab:As it happened]

90+4 FULL TIME The referee brings the game to a close.

90+3 Corner from left by-line taken by Ross Forbes.

90+1 Foul by Mark McLaughlin on Nick Blackman, free kick awarded. Direct effort from the free kick comes in from Tom Hateley, save by Tomas Cerny.

90+1 BOOKING Mark McLaughlin shown a yellow card.

89′ Foul by Jonathon Routledge on Chris Humphrey, free kick awarded. Ross Forbes has an effort direct from the free kick.

88′ Outswinging corner taken left-footed by Ross Forbes from the left by-line to the near post, Alex Neil manages to make a clearance.

86′ Corner taken right-footed by Flavio Paixao, save by Darren Randolph. Long range effort by Mark McLaughlin goes harmlessly over the bar.

86′ Marco Paixao takes a shot. Mark Reynolds gets a block in.

84′  SUB Damian Casalinuovo is brought on as a substitute for Douglas Imrie.

80′ Free kick awarded for a foul by Ross Forbes on Flavio Paixao. Martin Canning takes the free kick.

80′ BOOKING Booking for Alex Neil.

80′ BOOKING Ross Forbes goes into the book.

78′ Corner taken left-footed by Ross Forbes from the left by-line, Flavio Paixao manages to make a clearance.

77′ The assistant referee signals for offside against Flavio Paixao. Darren Randolph takes the free kick.

77′ SUB Motherwell makes a substitution, with Robert McHugh coming on for Alan Gow.

75′ Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Marco Paixao by Mark Reynolds. Douglas Imrie has a direct shot on goal from the free kick.

74′ Outswinging corner taken by Ross Forbes from the left by-line played to the near post, Tomas Cerny makes a save.

73′ Corner taken left-footed by Ross Forbes to the near post, clearance made by David Elebert.

72′ SUB John Sutton is brought on as a substitute for Steven Saunders.

71′ SUB Marco Paixao replaces Nigel Hasselbaink.

69′ Martin Canning concedes a free kick for a foul on Nick Blackman. Tom Hateley crosses the ball from the free kick right-footed from left wing, save made by Tomas Cerny.

69′ BOOKING Martin Canning is cautioned by the ref for unsporting behaviour.

66′ David Buchanan fouled by Chris Humphrey, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Tomas Cerny.

66′ SUB Alex Neil replaces Jim Goodwin.

65′ The offside flag is raised against Steven Saunders. Tomas Cerny takes the direct free kick.

64′ Unfair challenge on Chris Humphrey by David Buchanan results in a free kick. Ross Forbes delivers the ball from the free kick left-footed from right channel.

64′ The assistant referee flags for offside against Nigel Hasselbaink. Free kick taken by Stephen Craigan.

62′ Unfair challenge on Ross Forbes by Jim Goodwin results in a free kick. Stevie Hammell takes the direct free kick.

60′ Mark McLaughlin fouled by Tom Hateley, the ref awards a free kick. David Elebert restarts play with the free kick.

59′ Foul by Steven Saunders on Douglas Imrie, free kick awarded. David Elebert takes the free kick.

58′ Corner taken by Chris Humphrey from the right by-line, Martin Canning manages to make a clearance.

58′ Alan Gow takes a shot. Clearance made by Douglas Imrie.

55′ Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Simon Mensing by Ross Forbes. Tomas Cerny restarts play with the free kick.

55′ Corner taken by Ross Forbes from the left by-line, clearance made by Simon Mensing. Chris Humphrey takes the outswinging corner, Martin Canning manages to make a clearance.

53′ Free kick awarded for a foul by Mark McLaughlin on Alan Gow. Free kick taken by Stephen Craigan.

53′ Steven Saunders gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Douglas Imrie. Free kick taken by Tomas Cerny.

52′ Corner from the right by-line taken by Chris Humphrey, Mark McLaughlin makes a clearance.

50′ Martin Canning fouled by Alan Gow, the ref awards a free kick. Martin Canning takes the direct free kick.

49′ Foul by Douglas Imrie on Tom Hateley, free kick awarded. Free kick taken by Stephen Craigan.

47′ Nigel Hasselbaink concedes a free kick for a foul on Steve Jennings. Free kick taken by Stephen Craigan.

45′ KICK OFF The referee gets the second half started.

45+2 HALF TIME

45+1 Alan Gow gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Douglas Imrie. Flavio Paixao restarts play with the free kick.

45+1 Free kick awarded for a foul by Tom Hateley on Douglas Imrie. Tomas Cerny takes the direct free kick.

44′ Placed penalty taken by Tom Hateley saved by Tomas Cerny. Motherwell 0-1 Hamilton.

43′ PENALTY awarded for a foul by Martin Canning on Nick Blackman.

39′ Stevie Hammell produces a left-footed shot from just outside the area that goes harmlessly over the bar.

38′ Ross Forbes takes the inswinging corner, clearance made by Flavio Paixao.

37′ Douglas Imrie concedes a free kick for a foul on Tom Hateley. Darren Randolph takes the free kick.

32′ Corner taken by Flavio Paixao, Effort on goal by Jim Goodwin from inside the area goes harmlessly over the bar.

28′ Free kick awarded for a foul by Jim Goodwin on Tom Hateley. Darren Randolph takes the free kick.

25′ Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Nigel Hasselbaink by Ross Forbes. Jim Goodwin takes the free kick.

23′ Shot by Simon Mensing. Darren Randolph makes a comfortable save.

21′ The referee blows for offside against Nigel Hasselbaink. Darren Randolph restarts play with the free kick.

19′ Mark McLaughlin challenges Nick Blackman unfairly and gives away a free kick. Strike on goal comes in from Tom Hateley from the free kick.

19′ Free kick awarded for a foul by Mark McLaughlin on Nick Blackman. Direct free kick taken by Tom Hateley.

17′ Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Douglas Imrie by Steve Jennings. Flavio Paixao has an effort direct from the free kick, save byTomas Cerny.

14′ Assist by Martin Canning.

14′ GOAL – Nigel Hasselbaink: Motherwell 0 – 1 Hamilton A goal is scored by Nigel Hasselbaink from just inside the penalty area low into the middle of the goal.

11′ Mark McLaughlin takes a shot. Save by Darren Randolph.

11′ Ross Forbes gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Simon Mensing. Martin Canning takes the free kick.

10′ Nick Blackman takes a shot from inside the box clearing the bar.

9′ Simon Mensing produces a right-footed shot from just outside the box that misses to the right of the net.

9′ Ross Forbes takes the inswinging corner, clearance by Flavio Paixao.

7′ Headed effort from deep inside the penalty area by Steven Saunders misses to the left of the goal.

6′ Tom Hateley fouled by Jim Goodwin, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Stephen Craigan.

6′ The offside flag is raised against Nigel Hasselbaink. Stevie Hammell takes the free kick.

4′ The ball is crossed by Flavio Paixao, Header from deep inside the area by Nigel Hasselbaink goes over the bar.

3′ Corner taken left-footed by Ross Forbes, Martin Canning manages to make a clearance.

2′ Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Douglas Imrie by Steven Saunders. Free kick crossed right-footed by Flavio Paixao from left wing.

2′ Foul by Steven Saunders on Douglas Imrie, free kick awarded. Flavio Paixao takes the free kick.

1′ KICK OFF The match begins.

[tab:Reaction]

Motherwell boss Craig Brown:

“Hamilton are a team up for the occasion and they battled well. You can’t start as badly as we did and expect to win derby matches.

“When you miss a penalty and don’t play well, it’s a mountain to climb in the second half. I felt we were likely to score, but quite clearly, we didn’t – and good credit to the Hamilton defence.

“This club is respectful of referees and will never criticise the referee publicly. If I spoke to the referee personally, I would say something – but I have no intention of getting involved, because the referees are under enough pressure.

“Public statements to the media doesn’t help the situation, so I would rather not get involved in any controversy at all and give my wholehearted support to the refereeing regime in Scotland, which I think is very good.”

Hamilton manager Billy Reid:

“I’m delighted with three points. I thought we started well, we made a couple of chances and scored a fantastic goal.

“But in the second half, we had so many leads, then we seemed to freeze. The second half was horrible – Motherwell pinned us back and they almost got the breakthrough.

“We hung on; we’ve played really well in recent weeks so I felt we deserved something – and we got three points.

“It’s not pretty at times, it’s not exactly how I want to play, but the most important thing when you’re scrapping for points is to pick up three points.

“In weeks before, we’ve played much better football and got nothing. Today, we ground it out and got three points.”

[tab:Man-of-the-match]

[poll id=”15″]

As a youngster Steve Jennings dreamed of featuring in a somewhat grander derby than the one which sees North meet South in Lanarkshire, and he insists that the derby-day passion he experienced growing up in Merseyside stands him in good stead for what’s to come this afternoon.

Jennings is a lifelong Everton fan and chased his dream as a boy, joining The Toffees’ youth team as a talented young midfielder.

At that point it was thoughts of Everton v Liverpool under the Goodison lights that drove the gifted teen on.

“Everton were great with the young lads. They would take us to every home game so we could get the experience of what Goodison was like on a match day,” Jennings recalled.

“I’m a football fan and always have been. I had seven or eight season tickets at Goodison Park as a kid before I joined the club and I loved the derby experience.

“The nerves are unbelievable when I watch every Merseyside derby; even now I can hardly watch any time Liverpool get the ball in the Everton half – especially Gerrard; my heart starts pounding ten to the dozen, so I know what the fans feel on these occasions.”

Things weren’t to work out with the blue half of Merseyside and Jennings moved on to Tranmere Rovers, where he excelled in their School of Excellence before graduating into the first team – even winning the clubs’ Young Player of the Year award in 2008.

Yet, as an Everton supporter and former Everton youth player, the Liverpudlian midfielder obviously has not lost that appreciation of a good derby, and the move up north has given him the chance to excel in Motherwell vs. Hamilton encounters. 

He is grateful to former boss Jim Gannon for that opportunity. The former boss brought Jenning’s up to Motherwell, and despite initial injury problems Steve was to end up playing a starring role last season:

“It has been an unbelievable turnaround from missing out on the play-offs down in England to coming up here and playing in Europe, local derbies, and the latter stages of cup competitions,” he said, referring back to his time with Tranmere Rovers.

It certainly didn’t take the 25-year old long to get into the groove of the Lanarkshire derby. In his first taste of the rivalry Jennings turned in a dynamic display – complete with booking – in an utterly enthralling 2-2 draw at New Douglas Park.

Two more starts, and one more booking, would follow as Motherwell managed to complete an unbeaten 09/10 season against their rivals from down the road.

You can’t help but look at the way Jennings’ plays the game and think that it is simply made for high-intensity, passionate derby football. Crunching tackles, impeccable work rate and an eye for a pass in the most manic of midfield battles is a must – and the former Tranmere player ticks all the boxes.

In a typically tenacious assessment, Jennings confirmed: “I’m a straight-forward guy and I wear my heart on my sleeve and work hard, and going into games like this it might sound daft but if you get a couple of good tackles in straight away that can set you up for the game.

“On these occasions if you can start the game well then you can kick on from there and put in a good performance.

“So on Saturday we need to start sharply – which we’ve done the last few games at home – and get a grip of the game.”

There is little doubt that a match against Hamilton is very different from most other SPL encounters, and there are just certain types of players who seem to thrive in a derby-day cauldron. This is confirmed with the enthusiasm with which he talks about this afternoon’s encounter.

“I know what this type of game is all about,” he smiled. “The tempo is cranked up, the fans are up for it and whole experience is more hyped up than a lot of other matches.

“With that in mind we’ll come out with all guns blazing and give it a really good go.”

Hamilton visit Fir Park on the back of a difficult start to the season. Billy Reid’s men haven’t won a match in six attempts, and were defeated 2-1 at home last week thanks to a Danny Grainger goal for St. Johnstone.

The Accies currently sit second-bottom of the SPL, just two points ahead of bottom side St Mirren.

The Steelmen, on the other hand, are flying high. Brown’s men are lying in third spot – best-of-the-rest – and have only lost two games in the SPL all season; utterly understandable defeats to Rangers and Celtic – the latter an unlucky reverse thanks to a late, and somewhat dubious, penalty.

Nonetheless, you all know how the cliché goes: when rivals meet form goes out the window.

“Hamilton can come in to this game knowing Motherwell are perhaps the slight favourites to win,” Jennings noted. “That could give them a boost.

“We’ll go into the game with the utmost respect for Hamilton; there’s not one player in that dressing room who doesn’t give every opposition team the respect they deserve – the management team make sure of that.

“Hopefully if we play as well as we have done recently then the game will go by the form book, but that isn’t certain.”

The midfield dynamo’s insistence that the team must be ready for a battle today further emphasises the need for the team to have sole focus on the SPL. It seems Motherwell’s season has been punctured with distractions; firstly the Europa League qualifiers and now Tuesday’s Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final victory over Dundee United.

So far the players – in a remarkably small squad given the amount of games they have played – have coped well with bouncing back to SPL duty following a midweek challenge, and Jennings knows that is the task once more.

Putting a trip to Hampden out his mind he said: “The gaffer and Archie said straight after the cup game that we have to focus on the league now. Saturday is a massive game for everyone here and we all know that the SPL is our bread and butter.

“We’ll be fit and ready for it. Because of the Europa League we started our pre-season a little earlier, and I think you are seeing the benefit with how fit and strong we have been in the second half of games.”

Last season the midfielder was part of something of an ‘Everton mafia’ with Toffees’ loan stars Lukas Jutkiewicz and keeper John Ruddy, before this summer saw both players sold on by their parent club to Coventry and Norwich respectively.

It was undoubtedly a blow to Jennings to see two talented players, and good friends, leave Motherwell but he has dealt with the disappointment and carried on the form of last season.

“I lived with Jukes (Lukas Jutkiewicz) last season, and we speak pretty much every day. I’ve just booked a holiday next summer with him, Jim O’Brien and a few of the lad’s here now – it just goes to show the great bunch of guys we had last season, and the great atmosphere you get at this club.

“But the nature of football is that people leave. You could be at one end of the country one day and at the other end the next day – you just have to get your head down and get on with it.”

His own determination to keep performing mirrors the achievement of the current Motherwell team, which has collectively shaken off the loss of all the quality which departed Fir Park over the summer; not just Ruddy and Lukas, but Jim O’Brien and Giles Coke too.

It’s something Steve acknowledges: “I spoke to a few of the lads who left and they were asking whether we had brought anyone in. At that point we were trying but we couldn’t get any deals done – and I thought it could be a really tough season.

“A lot of the lads knew they had to stand up and be counted with other players leaving and the results show that everyone has done that.”

One constant which remained over the summer was the presence of Craig Brown and Archie Knox, and they are quickly proving that players may come and go, but with good coaching, man-management and tactical awareness they can keep ‘Well performing.

“Craig and Archie coming in have helped my game a lot,” he said.

“It’s not just me; a lot of the guys in that dressing room have come on leaps and bounds since the new management team came in.”

The next test for Craig, Archie, Steve and the rest of the lads will be to illustrate that progress against Accies who will, no doubt, be right up for it.

Alan Temple