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Eddie Wolecki Black has urged his Motherwell Ladies squad to go all out to impress during their four-week break without a competitive fixture.

Following the postponement of last Sunday’s fixture with Aberdeen, Wolecki Black’s side will have had to endure a 28-day absence from action before they return to league action against Glasgow Girls on 15 April.

There has been no let up on the training field for the ladies though, with extra training and gym sessions keeping up fitness levels during the lengthy spell without a game. And the ‘Well boss has been pleased with the dedication and effort from some of his squad.

“The girls deserve all the support they get,” Wolecki Black said. “Currently at the club there is fantastic work going on in obtaining sponsorship for the ladies team.

“I see what they all give. We’ve got four players that are mothers, they have to juggle domestic life, with football and their careers, some of their dedication is magnificent.

“Over the next few weeks it is vital that everyone continues to attend training and prepare to develop as players.”

Motherwell currently sit second in the SWPL2 table having won two of their first three league fixtures. It could have been three wins from three, had it not been for an administrative error meaning the 2-1 opening day victory over Kilmarnock was reversed to a 3-0 defeat.

It was a big disappointment for the players and staff to have to endure early on in the season, but they have set their focus on using it as a catalyst to help drive them forward for the rest of the campaign.

“We weren’t beaten on the pitch, we were beaten off it,” added the manager. “Throughout the situation I got great support from the club and Alan Burrows, which was a massive help to me and my staff.

“After that we had to pick up the morale of the team and we did exactly that with a great win against Edinburgh University Hutchison Vale and then a strong performance against Rangers in the cup.

“We’ve made things a little bit harder for ourselves but we are more than capable of making up for it.

“I think we have the basis of the squad there to compete for the title, we may have to add one or two along the way and I’m confident we’ll do that to help us out. Points will be dropped elsewhere, we just have to make sure we don’t drop any more.”

Nadir Çiftçi is the latest player in the hot seat in our Getting to Know series.

The on-loan forward talks about his favourite food, who has the worst dress sense in the squad and also tries an impression of a team mate.

Tickets for Motherwell’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi final with Aberdeen are now on sale.

Season ticket holders and Well Society members are entitled to purchase first on an exclusive basis. Each individual can buy up to five tickets each.

The ticket office and Chapman office at Fir Park will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm for ticket sales. It will also be open from 10am until kick off, and for one hour after, at the match with Rangers on Saturday, March 31.

A public sale will start on Monday, April 2. The ticket office will be open on this day from 9am to 1pm. It will be open from 9am to 5pm the rest of the week and will also be open until kick off ahead of the match with Aberdeen on Tuesday, April 3.

The match at Hampden Park will be played on Saturday, April 14. Kick off is at 12.15pm.

Ticket information for the match is as follows:

William Hill South Stand and North Stand

£30 Adult / £15 Concessions

East Stand

£20 Adult / £10 Concessions

Concessions are regarded as those aged under 16 and those aged 65 and over.

Additional information

Telephone bookings will be taken. A £1 admin charge will be applied per telephone booking.

Delivery is available for any fan who cannot collect from us and who is not local. Tickets will be sent recorded delivery but the decision to have tickets posted is at the supporter’s risk and reprints will not be available. A £2.50 admin/postage charge will be added to each ticket, capped at £10.

Our singing section will be in areas F2 and F3 in the east stand.

Any fan requiring ambulant or wheelchair tickets should contact Brian Davidson on 07428225254 or email tickets@mfcdsa.com.

Getting to Hampden

The club are operating a bus from the Cooper Bar on the day of the game. The bar will be open before departure for food and drink.

The bus, which will take supporters to and from Hampden Park, will cost £8. Supporters can buy by calling 01698 333333 or visiting the ticket office at Fir Park.

Semi final hospitality

Come and enjoy the day in style with our pre and post-match hospitality here at Fir Park.

For just £80, you can get:

• Your match ticket
• Hot breakfast roll
• Match programme
• Official bus to and from Hampden Park
• Pay bar facility at Fir Park
• Hot buffet served at Fir Park on your return

You can buy online or call to book on 01698 333333.

With Trevor Carson having made his international debut this weekend, he’s joined a long list of players making their first appearances for their nation while signed with Motherwell.

We’ve taken a look at a selection of those who first came to the attention of their countries while plying their trade in ML1.

Paul Lambert (Scotland, 1995)

Having been prolific at youth level for Scotland, midfielder Lambert was afforded his first appearance for the full squad, whilst a Motherwell player, in a trip to face Japan in the Kirin Cup.

The young midfielder started and played 73 minutes in the 0-0 draw in Hiroshima, before coming on as a substitute in the win over Ecuador three days later.

Having then moved on a Bosman to Borussia Dortmund… and the rest is history. A Champions League winner just one year after leaving Fir Park, he then went on to play all three games at the 1998 World Cup and also captained his country 15 times.

David Partridge (Wales, 2005)

Recruited by Terry Butcher to become a regular fixture in the Steelmen’s backline between 2002 and 2005, his time at Fir Park was then capped off by a first start for his country.

Having represented the nation of his father’s birth all through the youth levels, he then received full honours at the age of 26 in a friendly win over Hungary.

Fearing he had been forgotten about as a prospect for Wales, a scouting trip by John Toshack to watch John Hartson at Celtic alerted the manager to Partridge, who then went on to win a total of seven caps.

David Clarkson and Ross McCormack (Scotland, 2008)

It would be a rare occasion to see two Motherwell players debut for Scotland in the same match but that’s exactly what happened in Prague in 2008, as George Burley took the nation away to play a friendly against Czech Republic.

Clarkson, the club’s current academy coach, had the debut to remember. The then-22-year-old was thrust into the action in Prague with his side 2-0 down. Gathering a cross in the box, he skillfully engineered some space before netting to give his side hope.

McCormack would then join him on the pitch as the Scots surged to equalise against the Euro 2008-bound Czechs, but they would be denied by a further goal from Libor Sionko, who settled the tie 3-1.

Chris Humphrey (Jamaica, 2012)

Jamaican international Chris Humphrey could have represented Scotland because his mother was born in Kilmarnock.

However, the winger was called up to play for his father’s country in 2011, at the age of 24, following two impressive seasons in claret and amber.

Passport issues prevented the pacey wide-man from making his debut until a year later though, then in his third season with Motherwell. Humphrey came on at half time with Jamaica already a goal down, but the visitors held on to their slender lead.

His first start came in a showdown with France, who won 8-0 thanks to goals from Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema, Blaise Matuidi, Yohan Cabaye and Olivier Giroud.

Darren Randolph (Republic of Ireland, 2012)

Giovanni Trapattoni couldn’t possibly ignore the form of Darren Randolph in his time at Fir Park.

The 6ft 3in stopper made his international debut in 2012, in the same year he was selected in the PFA team of the year for the first time.

The Irishman came on as a substitute to earn his first cap in a 4-1 win over Oman on 11 September 2012.

He again came on as a substitute for his country in a 2-0 defeat against Spain during the summer he was set to depart Fir Park. The keeper produced a stunning fingertip save to deny Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla, but conceded from a neat Juan Mata finish.

Zaine Francis-Angol (Antigua and Barbuda, 2012)

At just 19 years of age, Francis-Angol got the nod to gain his first international cap for his country in 2012, just one year in to his spell in Lanarkshire.

The London-born left back started for Antigua and Barbuda, his mother’s country of birth, as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Guatemala.

The young defender made four appearances at international level during his four-year stint in claret and amber, which resulted in four defeats. Francis-Angol and his teammates came within seconds of drawing with the United States, but conceded in stoppage-time to lose 2-1.

And not forgetting: Phil O’Donnell,  James McFadden, Stephen Pearson, Steven Hammell, Brian Martin, Rob McKinnon, Steven Saunders (all Scotland), Brian McLean (Northern Ireland).

Trevor Carson made his long-awaited international debut on Saturday, playing the full 90 minutes in Northern Ireland’s win over South Korea.

The ‘Well goalkeeper impressed on his bow in Belfast, pulling off a number of important saves in the 2-1 win over the World Cup-bound side.

“It’s all a bit of a blur,” he told BBC Northern Ireland after the match. “I sat down after the game and it all sort of hit me.

“I enjoyed it. There were a couple of moments I just had to take it all in.

“Hopefully this is the start of it for me. I’ve had a taste of it and now I want more.”

Carson’s next opportunity to turn out for his nation will come at the end of the season, when Michael O’Neill’s side play friendlies against Panama and Costa Rica.

Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell both featured for Scotland Under 21s in their 1-1 qualifying draw in Andorra.

The Motherwell pair were both starters in the match for Scot Gemmill’s side, as they looked to keep themselves in contention for the 2019 UEFA European Under 21 Championships.

The young Scots fell behind in the second half through an Andorran penalty, before Lewis Morgan grabbed a late leveller.

Extended highlights from Airdrie as nine-man Under 20s lose to Kilmarnock in the Youth Cup.

Stephen Craigan is certain his Motherwell Under 20s side will bounce back from the disappointment of going out of the Scottish FA Youth Cup at the quarter final stage.

The young Steelmen went down 3-2 to Kilmarnock in controversial circumstances at the Excelsior Stadium, with both Barry Maguire and Liam Brown being sent off.

Manager Craigan was also sent to the stand but instead chose to focus on the performance after the match.

“The players are a little bit deflated,” he said. “It’s been a tough schedule over the past few weeks but we will pick them up.

“Young players are resilient and they will bounce back. It’s character building.

“I am just more disappointed that I felt the best team today didn’t win and go through.”

Motherwell twice came from behind in the match, with Shaun Bowers and Jake Hastie equalising before a late free kick settled things for the visitors.

“We generally feel we were the better team throughout the game,” Craigan added. “Naturally, that doesn’t mean you win a football match.

“We had to defend their three goals better. I felt the goals we gave up were quite cheap. In general play, I felt there was only one team going to win with the chances we created.

“It was almost quite similar to the St Johnstone. We felt if we had got ahead and got the first goal, we could have went on and won the game comfortably.

“The overriding feeling is of disappointment. Not for me, but for them. They put so much into the game and worked ever so hard.

“We lick our wounds and move on. We wish Kilmarnock all the best and we move on.”

A dominant Motherwell Under 20s slipped to a 3-2 defeat in the quarter final of the Scottish FA Youth Cup against Kilmarnock.

Shaun Bowers and Jake Hastie twice brought Stephen Craigan’s side level at the Excelsior Stadium, but the visitors struck late to progress to the last four of the competition Craigan’s side won in 2016.

Unfortunately, the ‘Well youngsters performance, and the fixture as a whole, was overshadowed by controversy as ‘Well went down to nine men in bewildering fashion.

However, it may have been a different story had the Under 20s taken their early chances.

A terrific ball towards the back post had keeper Jasmin Keranovic helplessly scrambling across goal, and both Jordan Armstrong and James Scott were queuing up to turn the ball home, only for the former to nod his effort off the cross bar.

Shea Gordon looked set to open the scoring when Jake Hastie’s stinging ball across goal just needed a touch to send it home, but it was just out of reach of the midfielder and he couldn’t get enough on it to beat Keranovic, who was helpless again in goal.

Killie got off the mark in the 16^th minute through Samizadeh, who spun away from Dylan King before rather fortunately crashing his effort in off the post.

It remained that way heading in to the break, but Bowers gambled well early in the second half to nod the Steelmen level.

A whipped cross towards the back post was missed by Keranovic and directed easily home by the right back.

Craigan’s side again dominated until Kilmarnock burst up the park five minutes later, and the whole match changed.

Samizadeh was again involved, working his way in to the box and tumbling to the deck despite the slightest contact from the hand of Barry Maguire.

The referee didn’t hesitate and immediately pointed to the spot. To compound matters, the official flashed a second yellow card at Maguire after the young defender expressed his disappointment with the decision.

After everything died down, Samizadeh stepped up and finished the spot kick off to put Kilmarnock back in front.

But the ten men of Motherwell didn’t lie down, instead did the opposite and took the game to the Ayrshire side.

They drew level through Hastie just five minutes after falling behind when Liam Brown’s delightful clipped ball found the forward who took a clever tough before firing past Keranovic.

In to the last ten minutes, the drama continued in Airdrie.

Kilmarnock won a soft free kick on the edge of the Motherwell box and, despite getting a strong hand to Jack Paterson’s thundered free kick, the ball spun up in to the air and trundled across the line to put the visitors back in front.

In the aftermath, Liam Brown was shown a second yellow for apparent dissent, forcing manager Stephen Craigan to ask for clarity from the referee as to why his midfielder had been sent off. This resulted in the Northern Irishman being sent a few yards away and in to the stands to watch the remainder of the cup clash, which ultimately ended in defeat and frustration for 2016’s winners.

Four Motherwell players are in contention to play for their countries over the March international break.

First potentially in action are Chris Cadden and Allan Campbell, who are with Scotland’s Under 21 side in Andorra.

Scot Gemmill’s side kick off at 5pm UK time in the UEFA European Under 21 Championship qualifier, with the dark blues pushing to catch the Netherlands in second spot.

On Saturday, Trevor Carson could land his long-awaited first international cap with Northern Ireland.

The ‘Well goalkeeper faces South Korea in Belfast, with the game kicking off at 2pm.

Then at 6pm on Saturday, Cédric Kipré is in contention to feature for Ivory Coast as they take on Togo in a friendly in France.

The defender, who has been outstanding in claret and amber this season, was a late call-up to the squad this week and could make his debut.

Motherwell international fixtures at a glance

Friday, 23 March: Andorra Under 21 v Scotland Under 21, 5pm.

Saturday, 24 March: Northern Ireland v South Korea, 2pm

Saturday, 24 March: Togo v Ivory Coast, 6pm.