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Stephen Robinson was pleased with performances throughout the team as Motherwell defeated Livingston 1-0.

The victory puts the Steelmen in the quarter finals of the Betfred Cup and the manager had praise for many after the win.

Motherwell progressed to the quarter-finals of the Betfred Cup for a second consecutive season thanks to a convincing 1-0 win over Livingston.

Danny Johnson’s first half strike was enough for ‘Well to overcome Kenny Miller’s men at the Tony Macaroni Arena, on a wet Saturday afternoon.

Manager Stephen Robinson fielded Gaël Bigirimana and Alex Rodríguez Gorrín alongside Andy Rose in the middle of the park, and the travelling Steelmen certainly produced an assured performance from start to finish.

With a quarter final place at stake, both teams made it an explosive start, with the goal frame being rattled at both ends within the opening minutes.

Hardly a minute had passed when former ‘Well player Steven Lawless unleashed a terrific volley from 20 yards which hammered off the face of the crossbar, much to the relief of Trevor Carson.

The Fir Park ‘keeper then responded smartly to turn a dipping shot from Kenny Miller over the bar.

In a hectic start and having already forced a save from Liam Kelly, Johnson latched onto Gorrín’s through ball before smashing a left foot shot off the ‘keeper’s right hand post.

The pace of the game was slick on Livi’s new plastic pitch. And when Frear slipped his marker on the left of the box, his inviting cross into the centre was perfect for Richard Tait. His powerful header looked like opening the scoring, until Kelly reacted to make a stunning stop.

At this stage ‘Well began to look more menacing and after 22 minutes broke the deadlock.

Livingston lost possession at the corner of their box and Main made the most of it heading for the goal line before cutting the ball back into the path of Johnson, who swept it low past Kelly to make it 1-0.

That goal injected some confidence into ‘Well’s play with Bigirimana controlling the midfield and supplying numerous telling passes the visitors were on the front foot.

A defence splitting pass from Bigirimana sent Johnson through and his drive across goal found Main, but his effort was blocked. From the resultant corner, Carl McHugh’s downward header was netbound until Kelly once again made a stunning save.

Two minutes from the interval, the Livi ‘keeper produced another incredible stop, somehow twisting to deny Main’s from forcing Frear’s low cross over the line from a couple of yards.

Not surprisingly the second failed to match the energy and excitement of the first 45. With the play largely confined to the middle of the park, ‘Well made a change in that area after 61 minutes with Campbell replacing Gorrín.

And it was almost a perfect substitution when, four minutes later, Campbell wriggled clear at the corner of the box before firing a low drive across Kelly, only to see the ball rebound from the ‘keeper’s right hand post.

A second substitution followed when Aaron Taylor-Sinclair replaced Peter Hartley, allowing ‘Well to go to a back four in front of Carson. Fifteen minutes from time, the Fir Park boss made the final change sending on Sammon for Johnson.

Five minutes later, the Steelmen had the chance kill off the home side. Bigirimana once again remained calm in possession and from a Livi corner he sent Frear racing to the other end, only to find his finishing drive blocked at the edge of the box.

In the end, though, Motherwell comfortably held on to Johnson’s first half goal to see them into the last eight.

Stephen Robinson says it’s a matter of building new partnerships as Motherwell look to bounce back against Livingston in the Betfred Cup.

With players coming and going over the summer, the manager says it’s about newcomers bedding in quickly and getting acquainted with the style of play.

It’s Livingston up next for the Steelmen in the second round of the Betfred Cup.

The two sides go head-to-head for the first time in the 2018/19 campaign, having both topped their groups.

Mixed form

Motherwell head into the cup clash off the back of two league defeats, but having come through their Betfred Cup group before that unbeaten.

Livingston meanwhile have picked up a point in the league so far, having lost at Celtic on the opening day and then having held Kilmarnock to a draw in their first home match.

The Lions also topped their Betfred Cup group, with their 11-point haul making them the seeded team in this tie.

Head-to-head

The two teams have met each other 19 times in competitive action, dating from their first clash at Fir Park in the top flight in 2001, to a League Cup tie in 2013.

The Steelmen have won the last five games, all by a single goal. Livi’s last win came back in February 2004, when they claimed a 3-1 win at Almondvale.

Motherwell have won nine of the fixtures between the pair. There have been three draws, and Livingston have won seven.

Goals galore

There have been some exceptionally high scoring matches with Livingston down the years, despite the low number of encounters between the pair.

The 2002/03 season provided two of them. A 5-1 win for Livi at Fir Park came through goals from Lee Makel, David Bingham,  Davide Xausa and a Cherif Toure-Maman double, with Khaled Kemas scoring for the hosts.

Later that year on the final day of the season, James McFadden provided a moment to remember as he scored a hat-trick on the way to a 6-2 victory.

It’s off to the Tony Macaroni Arena on Saturday as we face Livingston in the second round of the 2018/19 Betfred Cup.

Here’s everything you need to know going into the match.

You can pay at the gate

Prices are £18 for adults and £12 for concessions. Children aged 12 and under will get in for free.

Concession pricing applies to under 18s, those aged 65 and over, and students who show a valid matriculation card. It also applies to disabled supporters. Carers go for free.

Free tickets for children are limited to three per each paying adult.

Buses from Fir Park

Our buses from our Cooper Bar at Fir Park to Livingston are sold out. If you already booked your place, buses will leave at 1.30pm. Pre-match food and drink is available in the Cooper from 11am.

Team news

Chris Cadden is a major doubt with a knee knock, while Liam Grimshaw is also a doubt. Liam Donnelly is out for three weeks. Charles Dunne, Craig Tanner and Ryan Bowman remain on the sidelines.

Further reading

• Ticket prices for Livingston cup tie
• Manager: We’re building new partnerships
• Scene setter: Preparing for Livingston
• In Numbers: Building up to Livi cup clash
• Bigirimana ready to push for starting place
• Headlines from Stephen Robinson’s press conference
• Need to know: The lowdown on Livingston

Stephen Robinson met the broadcast media on Friday morning ahead of the Betfred Cup clash with Livingston and covered a number of topics.

The Steelmen boss was asked about taking inspiration from last season’s cup run, the threat posed by Livi, synthetic surfaces and Gaël Bigirimana’s return to the team.

On how the squad is shaping up ahead of the weekend’s game

We’ve got a few injuries. Apart from the long-term injuries with Charles Dunne, Craig Tanner and Ryan Bowman, we’ve got Liam Grimshaw, Liam Donnelly and Chris Cadden struggling. Cadds has a dead leg he picked up in training so we were racing against time with him, but we’ve had a good week. We’ve had good preparation.

We took a lot of the positive stuff out of the Accies game. When the emotions of the result are gone, you can look back and see there was a lot of good stuff. So we’ve worked and trying to keep on building on those things.

On taking the positives from matches despite defeats

What you have got to remember is when we first started the season we had Charles Dunne and Cédric Kipré, who were part of a defence that kept 20 clean sheets.

The first time Tom [Aldred], Carl [McHugh] and Peter [Hartley] have played together was last Saturday against Hamilton Accies and I thought they were excellent.

As much as people look to find negatives, that was a real positive: three strong boys who defended excellent. Up front we’re still trying to build partnerships. We thought Ryan Bowman and Curtis Main had a partnership last season and Bowman and Sammon looked good together against Queen of the South, then you lose one to injury.

That happens at every football club. I’m not one for excuses and I think it’s opportunity for people to build new partnerships, but you can’t click your fingers and wave a magic wand and that happens straight away. That said, I can see good signs with certain people building relationships as well and its up to me to get the right partnerships.

On whether memories of the cups last season provide inspiration for the players

You know it’s funny as we had the exact same start as last season. We lost the first two league games and the cup obviously gave us a real bonus. We’re very aware that it can really kick start our season and give us a real drive going forward.

It’s a massive game for us at Livingston. We’re hoping to replicate a lot of the defensive stuff against Accies, but with a wee bit more quality in the final third. We’ve already spoke with the boys and know when we lost we have to change what we do slightly. So we’ve tweaked it and I think will be better for that as well.

In terms of the cups last year, what it did for the football club in terms of raising the profile of individual players and the club as a whole, as well as financially, it’s a massive goal for us [to try and repeat it].

People are excited by it. You’re able to take a little rest from the league where we haven’t started as well as we wanted to. And you know that momentum can take you forward, as it did last year.

On whether Livi are an ‘unknown quantity’

I saw a lot Livingston last season. It’s an easy one to go and watch because it’s so close and I found myself there with Martin Foyle [Motherwell’s head of recruitment].

I think they’re solid, a very decent side. They’ve come up and started brightly. They put in a decent performance against Celtic and got a good result last week. So it’s going be a tough tie for us, we’re well aware of that.

They’re physical and can play direct, but they’ve also got quality in their side. We’re well aware and we’ll be well prepared, so they’re definitely not an unknown quantity to us.

On any concerns over the new Almondvale synthetic surface

I’m not sure many people like them [artificial pitches], if we’re being honest. That said, it’ll almost be as new to them as it is to us given they haven’t played many games on it. So it will definitely not be an excuse on our part.

On artificial pitches impacting team selection

There might be a couple of players you’re wary of, but we can’t as we haven’t got a big enough squad and with our injury list at the moment, I’m not in a position to do that anyway.

I don’t know, I haven’t seen any evidence that it makes injuries any worse. So until that comes up, we’ll just get on with it. We’ve got tough boys here who don’t want to miss games so we won’t use that an excuse.

As I said, I think they’ve only played one competitive game on it so it’s not as if they’re overly used to it either. No excuses, we’ll just get on with it and try and win the match.

On Chris Cadden facing his brother Nicky

Chris tried to train yesterday [Thursday] and he wasn’t quite right. We’re looking at him again today and we’ll give it right up until the last minute. But I know there could be wee bit of family rivalry with one playing on the right and one on the left. So if he doesn’t play he’ll get a little bit of stick at home from Nicky I would imagine.

Seriously though, Chris is a massive player for us and we’re hoping he’ll be okay, but it’s a race against time now. He got a dead leg, a clash with Curtis Main in training in a bad area, just above his knee. We’re trying to get the swelling down so he has full mobility, but at this stage he’s looking quite doubtful.

On Liam Grimshaw’s injury

Liam’s missed a couple of weeks with a swollen knee. He’s had a scan on and we didn’t find anything untoward thankfully. Again, it’s a case of trying to get the swelling down.

On Gaël Bigirimana’s return to the team

Yeah I totally agree with Gaël’s summary. People always build up something that isn’t, that somehow there was a problem between Bigi and I. Not at all, he’s a super, super boy and you couldn’t wish to meet a nicer lad.

He did come and wasn’t fit enough and he’ll accept that himself. There is never any doubting his talent. Some people hit the ground running, some don’t. It’s taken Gaël a little bit longer, but there’s no doubt his talent and his attitude towards his work now.

At one stage we thought he might leave the football club and that he wanted to go back down south and things. His application since has shown he wants to be part of it and he’s been fantastic.

You know he’s been the last off the training pitch. He’s the last one out of the gym, which is maybe something he didn’t value too much before. But he’s come back. He is a different player with a different attitude and we’re hoping we reap rewards in that because we’ve got a very talented boy on our hands.

There was never any doubt of his ability. He’ll probably be the first to tell he wasn’t quite fit enough and maybe his mindset wasn’t quite right to do what we knew someone of his ability could do.

He can unlock doors. If there’s one thing about us, we’re organised and disciplined and we need a little bit more. As I said, if you lose the players we have lost, with their physicality, then you have to tweak things. And I think Bigi can be a part of that, as can Alex Gorrin and Allan Campbell. Boys that can make things happen.

We have to look a little bit differently and I think Bigi can play a big part in that.

Gaël Bigirimana says he’s got a fresh perspective this season as he looks to nail down a starting position in the Motherwell team.

The midfielder has had to work for his chance and says he’s learning from a club mantra that “the finest steel has to go through the hottest fire” as he looks to improve.

The Steelmen travel to the Tony Macaroni Stadium on Saturday to face Livingston in the last-16 of the Betfred Cup.

Here are some key numbers and stats you need to know ahead of the fixture against Kenny Miller’s side.

One

The total number of defeats Stephen Robinson has suffered in the Betfred Cup since taking charge back in March 2017.

The manager has been in charge of 12 fixtures in the tournament and won an impressive ten matches, drawing once in an away trip to Stranraer.

The Northern Irishman’s only loss arrived in the final against Celtic last season, when the Glaswegian side emerged 2-0 victors at Hampden.

Five

The number of years since the two sides last met competitively.

On that day in 2013, the Fir Parkers ran out 2-1 winners away from home in the league cup, with James McFadden and Bob McHugh finding the net.

Danny Denholm scored a late consolation goal for the hosts, who were reduced to ten men when Jason Talbot was sent off just after the hour mark.

19

The number of times the two sides have met since their first ever meeting back in 2001.

It wasn’t the most exciting first game, with the fixture ending goalless at Fir Park.

The highest scoring clash was a 6-2 win for ‘Well. On that day, James McFadden bagged a hat-trick and Keith Lasley scored a brace in a game that was surprisingly 1-1 at half time.

14

The number of years since either side lifted the league cup.

Saturday’s hosts lifted the trophy back in 2004, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Hibernian.

Unfortunately for ‘Well, it’s been a 68 year wait since the club last lifted the trophy, defeating the same opposition Hibs 3-0 back in October 1950.

Our Betfred Cup campaign continues on Saturday as we make the trip to face Livingston in the second round.

It’s Motherwell’s first competitive outing against the Lions since 2013, when the Steelmen won 2-1 in the same competition.

The shock troops

Winners of League One in the 2016/17 season, nobody had Livingston among their pre-season favourites for promotion from the Championship. Livi had been absent from the top flight since 2006, beset by financial troubles ever since, but were slowly building a sustainable model and getting back on their feet.

The perfect storm ensued. Former manager David Hopkin put together a team of warriors, picking up results consistently against bigger teams and putting themselves in the play-off reckoning. Then, with history against the Championship’s play-off finalists, they relegated Partick Thistle to secure unlikely back-to-back promotions.

A new man at the helm… and in attack

With Hopkin leaving in the summer, the Livingston board looked to Kenny Miller to give him his first taste of management. Combining his coaching duties with leading the line, the striker has enjoyed a strong start at the helm.

Three wins and a bonus point in the group stage of the Betfred Cup put them through as seeds, before they kicked off the league campaign. They showed flashes in their 3-1 defeat at Celtic on the opening day, but a 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock at home in their second game suggests they are going to be tough opponents on home turf.

Talking about home turf…

Over the summer, Livingston moved away from a grass pitch to install a new artificial surface, meaning 25% of pitches in the top flight are now being played on 4G.

After delays in getting it installed, the pitch only got its first outing in the draw with Kilmarnock and it still remains to be seen how difficult it will prove to play on, or otherwise.

League Cup history

One of Livingston’s finest hours came in this competition, when they lifted the trophy against the odds by beating Hibernian in 2004.

With the club having gone into administration hours after their semi-final victory over Dundee, a dark cloud was hanging over a talented playing squad. Some took wage cuts, others were made redundant. But the team spirit remained, and their 2-0 win came against a talented Hibs team which included Scott Brown, Steven Whittaker, Derek Riordan and other talented youngsters.

We took Richard Tait for a coffee and a chat to talk about this weekend’s Betfred Cup clash with Livingston.

The defender also reflected on the frustrations of defeat in the Lanarkshire derby, and how the players respond as a team in the build up to an important fixture.

Our interview was filmed at the Windmills Cafe in Motherwell.

Windmills is a social enterprise cafe in the heart of Motherwell which is committed to ensuring young people with learning disabilities have equal access to meaningful work experience opportunities. For more information, visit Windmills Cafe’s website.