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Andrew Robertson is a Champions League winner. Andrew Robertson is a Premier League winner.

He’s also a mean table tennis hustler and a Twitter PR guru, by all accounts.

Motherwell’s Declan Gallagher has learned first hand how much of a class act the former Queen’s Park left-back is over the last few weeks.

The Fir Park skipper has played an integral part in the national side’s recent surge in form, playing all three of Scotland’s undefeated run that has them just one game away from UEFA EURO 2020.

It was enough to earn him praise on Twitter from Robertson, who lauded Gallagher’s showing to his 1.4m followers. And after tagging the Motherwell man, he is now reaping the rewards as his own online disciple tally reached the heady heights of 3500.

“We were having a laugh about it during the week,” he said. “The boys are on Twitter and me and Andy were having a laugh as we were playing lots of table tennis when we were away, obviously while social distancing.

“We got a good bond off the field and he said to me ‘don’t worry mate, I’ll help your Twitter followers go up’. He put up a tweet and I told him that he better tag me next time, then the next one goes up and he has. It was good of him.

“He meant what he said when he said I’d done well and deserved it. At the end of the day, he’s a Champions League and Premier League winner, so it’s great, but he’s come through the ranks just as I did in the lower leagues. He knows what it’s all about.

“It’s amazing to get praise from the captain of your country and someone like that.

“To be fair, I did say to him my Twitter following did go up. I’m now up to around 3,500 followers. My phone didn’t stop going after he tweeted about me, but it was probably folk just replying to him.”

Gallagher was at the heart of a Scotland defence which kept three clean sheets in three consecutive victories in October, putting the national team top of their UEFA Nations League group and also setting up a date with destiny in Serbia next month.

With manager Steve Clarke putting his faith in Gallagher, the influential defender is hopeful he’ll get the nod again for the potentially history-defining match.

“I was delighted just to play my part,” Gallagher added.

“You are always disappointed when you’re not playing, and I thought I did well in my two previous games, but there are some great players in my position for Scotland.

“To get the chance this time is that wee bit sweeter, and to do as well as I did was the cherry on the cake.

“To get to a play-off final game to get to a major tournament, it’s just an unbelievable thing.

“Steve Clarke has given a lot of the Scottish Premiership boys a fair look. Myself, Paul Hanlon, Andy Considine. He’s not scared to put in the Scottish–based lads and there’s no bias towards the boys in a bigger league as some may like to see it.

“Just because you’re not playing down south doesn’t mean you are a bad player. It just means you’ve not had that chance to go and do it. We have proven we can match these European teams.”

The ‘Well skipper was expecting to go straight into action last weekend with only a handful of days to prepare, only for the Steelmen’s clash away to St Mirren to fall victim to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Paisley club.

It means Well will have gone the best part of a month without kicking a competitive ball, but Gallagher insists there will be no ring rust from him or his team-mates.

“I know the boys will have been working hard. You work hard for two weeks to play football, so the boys will have been a wee bit upset that the game against St Mirren didn’t go ahead. It’s coming up to a month since we last played, it was a bit devastating for us.

“But our minds are focused on the Ross County game. I know for a fact we will be raring to go for the Ross County game.

“I’m not worried about sharpness. We have a good squad of boys and hopefully we will get a few back.

“I think if you said to the boys they’d rather play midweek than train. We are all professionals. It’ll be tough, I’ll not say it won’t be, but we will be looking forward to it.

“Hopefully we can take maximum points when they come around.”

Of course, Gallagher was not the only one away on international duty. Stephen O’Donnell joined him in the Scotland camp, Barry Maguire, PJ Morrison and Allan Campbell were away with the Under 21s, Bevis Mugabi was with Uganda. At the same time, Trevor Carson started for Northern Ireland in their clash with Norway.

And it’s that international springboard that the Well skipper reckons will get Stephen Robinson’s men flying into this weekend’s meeting with Ross County.

“We brought a natural buzz when we came back from the international break. So did Trevor Carson getting his first start for Northern Ireland in a long time.

“The boys are always on a high, we were on a decent run outside the Old Firm games and obviously we want to get the momentum going.

“We had hoped that would start against St Mirren but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully when the Ross County game we will keep that buzz and we will go into the game flying.”

By Scott Mullen.

There’s a live stream available of Motherwell v Ross County on Saturday.

The Scottish Premiership match can be watched in two ways.

Season ticket holders and foreign-based fans can watch through their normal international subscription at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

A pay-per-view match pass is also available for £12 to all other fans, from both teams, at ppv.motherwellfc.co.uk.

Racism has no place in football. Racism has no place in society.

We are proudly continuing our support for Show Racism the Red Card, as they continue their Fortnight of Action. The education charity have spread messages of tolerance and inclusion within football for many years.

Now more than ever, the importance of this fortnight cannot be overstated.

Our fight to end racism exists every day. This weekend against Ross County – and across all Scottish football matches – we as clubs will united to call for an end to racial discrimination and inequality throughout society.

Show Racism the Red Card work all year round with schools, workplaces, grassroots, youth football clubs and the prison service to educate young people and adults on challenging prejudice and stereotypes, using the power of football as a positive way to instigate conversation on anti-racism.

Covid-19 and events overseas have shone a light on the growing inequalities that some of us unfairly face. Still today, many experience this disproportionately due to the colour of their skin.

Last year in Scotland, 81% of young people felt more confident in identifying and safely challenging racism after working directly with Show Racism the Red Card.

Scottish football is committed to eradicating racism and discrimination in all its forms from our game. We call on our supporters to continue to challenge racism. It is the responsibility of us all to ensure that the anti-racism message is carried out beyond the Fortnight of Action.

“It is so important that we continue to push the message that racism has no place in our sport or society,” Motherwell FC manager Stephen Robinson said.

“Sadly, we continue to see incidents of racism around the world. Whether they are occurring on our doorstep or thousands of miles away, the connected world we live in means that these despicable moments are brought close to home for all.

“We must never be complacent. We must never stop calling it for what it is. We must stand against racism.”

We stand with everyone who has had to endure racial prejudice in all areas of their lives. We condemn all forms of racism and any racist behaviour will not be tolerated at our club.

Football is a sport that is loved by people across the world and football matches should be an enjoyable experience for all, whatever your background. Education is the key. We support Show Racism the Red Card to ensure our future generation are equipped with the tools to challenge and eradicate racism from football and society.

For useful resources and information, please visit theredcard.org or follow the organisation on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Motherwell and Ross County face for the second time this season in the Scottish Premiership at the weekend.

Here are the storylines going into Saturday’s match.

The return of Jermaine Hylton

Having started the season at Fir Park, the forward swapped ML1 for Dingwall at the start of October.

Part of the squad which roared to third spot in the Premiership in the 2019/20 campaign, Hylton contributed four goals in 41 appearances for the Steelmen.

With first team opportunities limited in 2020/21, the 28-year-old took the chance to head north in search of action and to add to the Staggies’ forward options.

The back and forth of results

Neither side has been able to settle on a consistent run of results in the games between the two in recent years.

Since Motherwell won on the five on the bounce across 2013 and 2014, neither team has won more than two consecutively against the other.

Ross County were winners last time out in Dingwall, with Motherwell winning the previous time at Fir Park.

The scramble up the table

With both sides harbouring ambitions of a top six finish, there’s three valuable points on offer on Saturday.

Ross County currently sit four points ahead of Motherwell in seventh spot, albeit having played two matches more.

A win for Stuart Kettlewell’s side could lift them to fifth in the Premiership, while Motherwell could jump to eighth.

A chance to get some playing action

Motherwell’s last competitive game came on 27 September at home to Rangers, meaning almost a month has passed.

With games against Kilmarnock and St Mirren cancelled due to Covid-19 issues with our opponents, there has been significant time spent in cold storage for Stephen Robinson’s men.

In the same time period, County have played four matches – losing away to Rangers, drawing with Montrose, beating Arbroath and drawing at home to Hibernian.

Our main sponsor Paycare have teamed up with iconic fragrance brand Molton Brown to offer an exclusive range of discounts on Eau de Parfum and Toilette, Bath, Body and Hair Care, and Home collections.

The partnership, which saw Paycare staff and policyholders given access to unique offers for a limited time back in May, was formed when Molton Brown’s Sarah White met Paycare CEO Kevin Rogers at a pre-lockdown football match in Scotland.

The first tranche of discounts proved so popular that there will be even more exclusive products and discounts on offer from 16 October to 9 November.

“The initial offering ran during May, at a time when we knew many of our policyholders were struggling with being in lockdown and not being able to jet away for their summer holidays,” explained Paycare CEO Rogers.

“In addition to the range of services we were able to continue offering throughout the spring peak of the pandemic – like our Wellbeing services and newly-launched Bundle product, including our well-loved and well-used MyPocket GP app and Employee Assistance Programme – we wanted to remind people how important it was to relax, unwind and take care of their own wellbeing.

“It was so well received that a repeat in autumn – when many of us are starting to think about festive gifting – seemed perfect, even before we knew tighter restrictions were about to be announced by the Government.

“As a luxury brand, with a strong sense of care, Molton Brown is a perfect fit and we’re delighted to continue the partnership, helping many of our Policyholders to truly unwind and focus on taking time for mental wellbeing.”

Sarah White, Corporate Sales at Molton Brown, added: “Our partnership with Paycare allows us to add luxurious moments to daily routines.

“From iconic Bath and Shower Gels to nourishing Body Lotions, our exquisite fragrances refresh, intrigue or unwind the senses. During these uncertain times, our reassuring gestures of care and cleansing are more important than ever.

“With our second promotion, we’re adding an extra twinkle to uplift the spirits this festive season; featuring shower gel-filled Baubles and sensational gift sets that’ll bring joy to loved ones.”

Paycare policyholders can access the discounts through their MyPaycare Portal between Friday 16 October and Monday 9 November 2020.

Our prolonged absence from first team action comes to an end with the visit of Ross County.

After seeing the previous two matches cancelled due to Covid-19 issues with opponents, Motherwell play host to the Staggies on Saturday, 24 October. Kick-off is at 3pm.

Season ticket holders and foreign-based fans can watch through their normal international subscription at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

A pay-per-view match pass is also available for £12 to all other fans, from both teams, at ppv.motherwellfc.co.uk.

Tale of the tape

The two sides met on the opening day of the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership season in Dingwall.

Liam Donnelly missed a penalty in the Monday night fixture, with Ross Stewart netting from the spot for the hosts in a 1-0 win.

Before that, Motherwell were victorious in the previous two encounters, winning 4-1 at Fir Park and 2-1 away on their travels on Boxing Day last year.

Form guide

Motherwell will have waited almost a month since their last encounter – a defeat to Rangers – due to two call-offs due to Covid-19 issues with planned opponents.

County have won one of their last five league matches, which came in a 1-0 win at St Johnstone in mid-September.

On Betfred Cup group stage duty, County drew 3-3 with Montrose away – having been 3-0 up – before taking the bonus point in the penalty shootout. They then defeated Arbroath 2-1 at home.

With no reserve football on offer in the 2020/21 season, new ways have had to be found to ensure the next crop of talented Motherwell youngsters can progress.

While David Turnbull, James Scott, Jake Hastie, Barry Maguire and countless others have benefitted from having the opportunity to play minutes, the current batch faced sitting in the stands waiting for first team opportunities.

The start of the lower league season in Scotland has opened the door to a number going out on loan, combining playing meaningful football with still training with the team at Dalziel Park.

Harry Robinson, Ross MacIver, PJ Morrison, Jamie Semple and Sam Muir have all taken the step so far, with others likely to follow at the right moment.

“The players could stay here and potentially be the 21st man,” Diarmuid O’Carroll, who is responsible for overseeing their development away from the club, explained.

“But they get much more from being out in real football. Playing for points every week, competing and getting used to the rigours of first team football day-to-day.

“Whether they come back in January or the summer, hopefully they will be ready to go straight in and be a fully-fledged first team player.”

Queen of the South, Greenock Morton, Falkirk, Cove Rangers and Gretna are the respective clubs where our young talent are currently earning their stripes.

Picking the right destination for each player has also been part of the design of the new way of doing things.

“We’ve picked the clubs and the coaches specifically so that we can work with them, so we can put demands on their training structure,” O’Carroll expanded.

“We also then analyse the player in games so they can work on it when they are back in the building during the week.

“Generally most weeks they will be with us one to two days. They are still very much in the circle.

“It’s not like they are out of sight, out of mind. These are still very much first team squad members for us.”

Getting the chance to play competitive football in pressured environments, as opposed to sitting in the stand on a Saturday, is crucial both for the club and the development of the players.

“It’s an experience more than anything else,” O’Carroll said.

“Showing they are capable physically, technically and tactically to go and be a big boy. Be a man in a man’s environment and then come back.

“We’ve seen with Jamie Semple already, coming back in after a few weeks. You can see he’s already puffed the shoulders out and developed over the course of a month.

“Hopefully they all develop, enjoy it, field the challenge and come back ready to go.”

The start of lower league action in Scotland at the weekend saw a number of Motherwell’s young stars in action.

Harry Robinson started as Queen of the South travelled to face Ayr United minus their coaching staff, who were in isolation due to Covid-19.

The Championship encounter ended 2-1 to the Ayrshire club, with the winger playing 66 minutes.

Ross MacIver came on as a substitute for the last 19 minutes as Morton won 1-0 at home to Alloa Athletic.

Jamie Semple got his first league minutes for Cove Rangers as they started the League One season with a 3-1 home win over East Fife.

The midfielder played 75 minutes in the victory for Paul Hartley’s side, before being replaced by ex-Well man Broque Watson.

PJ Morrison was an unused substitute as Falkirk started their League One season with a 3-1 win at Montrose, while Sam Muir started as Gretna lost 3-0 at Bonnyrigg Rose in the Lowland League.