| 3 | Rangers | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 23 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 |
| 5 | Motherwell | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 | St Mirren | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | -4 | 18 |
| 7 | Dundee | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 15 |
Olly Crankshaw only joined Motherwell a couple of weeks ago, but after settling in quickly, he wants to see the team build a winning mentality to get out of the poor run of form they are in.
The winger, on loan from Stockport County, has seen the quality within the squad a knows a win could kick start a run of wins.
Tickets for our Scottish Cup fifth round tie against Raith Rovers will be on sale from Thursday 2 February at 10am.
Supporters will be in the North Stand with Motherwell fans able to purchase their tickets online.
Tickets can be purchased online ONLY. There is no pay-at-the-gate facility at Starks Park.
| North Stand | |
| Adults | £20 |
| Senior citizen (over 65 & under 21) | £11 |
| Under 12 | £5 |
The Steelmen return to home turf to take on St Johnstone at Fir Park
Kick off is 7.45pm, Wednesday 1 February.
Supporters are able to buy tickets online here or visit the ticket office at Fir Park.
Ticket Office open from 11am – the ticket office is open until kick-off with no pay gate facility
Away supporters can purchase tickets in the Tommy McLean stand from 2pm from the ticket booth up until kick-off (cash and card available)
Ticket Prices
| Hunter Stand | O’Donnell, Cooper, McLean Stand | |
| Adults | £21 | £25 |
| Concessions | £17 | £18 |
| Young Adults | £10 | £10 |
| Juniors | £4 | £4 |
– Concessions Tickets would be ages 65 and over and FT Students with a valid matric card.
– Young Adults tickets would ages 12 to 17.
– Juveniles would be 11 and under.
– Family tickets would be one adult / senior citizen concession and x2 juveniles.
If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.
Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.
Motherwell go into this one still searching for a home win since August.
The visitors are on a run of six straight league defeats however they came out victorious the last time the sides met at Fir Park when Stevie May’s stoppage time strike gave the away side all three points.
Sitting four points behind, The Steelmen will be looking to close the gap on Saints to one, while Callum Davidson’s side will be looking to close the gap on the top six positions.
Match Officials
After picking up a win against Arbroath, Steven Hammell wanted to see his side kick on from their performance seven days ago by following it up with a win against St Mirren in Paisley.
It was a tale Motherwell have seen all too often this season as they conceded first from former ‘Well striker Curtis Main after he nudged home a cross into the box that was poorly defended.
Thereafter, Liam Kelly had a quiet afternoon with little to do. Ross Tierney and Olly Crankshaw came on after an hour which seemed to boost the team.
Ricki Lamie’s header went inches past the post, after the defender had been denied a stonewall penalty in the first period.
Stuart McKinstry and Max Johnston couldn’t beat Trevor Carson between the stick and St Mirren hung on to a 1-0 victory to send 900+ ‘Well fans home empty handed and frustrated.
“There was nothing in the game at all. St Mirren turned it into a game that they wanted to play.
“It hurts. The amount of points we have gathered in the last few games hasn’t been good enough.”
Stephen Robinson’s side avenged their opening day defeat to Motherwell, ironically with former Fir Park striker Curtis Main netting the only goal of a closely contested 1-0 affair in Paisley.
There was very little between the sides and Motherwell, especially on their second half showing when they were a lot more threatening around Trevor Carson’s goal, will consider themselves extremely unlucky not to have taken at least a point.
The former Fir Parker stopper was by far the busier ‘keeper with a couple of late stops to earn the Buddies their first home win over ‘Well since 2015.
Steven Hammell made two changes from the side which won at Arbroath last week. With Mikaël Mandron injured in training ‘Well reverted to their more recognised attacking pair of Kevin van Veen and Connor Shields. Although latest signing Riku Danzaki was cleared in time for the game, the Japan midfielder didn’t feature in the squad.
St Mirren, whose only home defeat this season has been at the hands of the Steelmen, had four former Motherwell men in their starting line-up.
‘Well, in their luminous yellow kit, kicked off in blinding Paisley sunshine and the 900 travelling fans behind Liam Kelly’s goal were still shading their eyes from the sun when Scott Tanser slashed an early drive into the crowd.
For the next 10 minutes or so Motherwell were tidy in possession and a great move involving Max Johnston, Shields and Van Veen ended with Stuart Slattery’s snap shot being blocked in front of goal before Trevor Carson could be tested.
The former ‘Well man then had to watch as a series of crosses from Blair Spittal were headed clear of his six-yard box.
The only goal arrived after 16 minutes and came as a bit of a surprise. A clever exchange wide on the right between Marcus Fraser and Ryan Strain allowed the latter to drill the ball towards the ‘keeper’s front post. Amid a forest of legs Main got a touch to divert the ball between Kelly and his left-hand post.
That failed to deter Hammell’s men from continuing to slowly build from the back and on a perfect playing surface they did their best to get wide and behind the Buddy’s defence.
Despite Sean Goss from the right and Spittal from the opposite touchline frequently delivering crosses towards Carson’s goal, the Saint’s ‘keeper was rarely troubled in the first half.
Although his side trailed at the interval Hammell’s main criticism would be their pace of play towards the home goal.
Within two minutes of the restart Ricki Lamie led from the back. His long ball downfield was chased by Van Veen to win a corner. And when Spittal whipped the flag kick into the box Lamie rose to nod the ball across the goal face and just beyond the far post.
The Steelmen looked more direct and after 56 minutes Shields powered his towards the box before cutting the ball back to McKinstry around the penalty spot. With van Veen in support the Leeds loanee took too many touches and the chance was gone.
That was the final bit of action for Shields and Spittal as they were replaced by Ross Tierney and Olly Crankshaw.
Five minutes later the pair combined to split the Saint’s defence.
Showing great determination to keep possession Tierney released his fellow sub from the halfway line. Crankshaw looked to have the pace to get beyond Tanser but as the pair approached the edge of the box the defender’s sliding left foot cleared the danger.
Play raced to the other end where Lamie’s intervention blocked Main’s route into the box.
With 25 minutes remaining the game at last had an injection of some lively action for both sets of fans to enjoy.
After 71 minutes ‘Well came close to claiming a deserved equaliser. Crankshaw raced to the byeline and his cutback found Johnston at the edge of the box. His low drive was parried by Carson at full stretch before the ‘keeper quickly responded to throw himself on the loose ball to deny Van Veen a goal scoring touch.
The six minutes of additional time brought an encouraging response from the ‘Well fans and the team.
And three minutes from the end they were twice denied an equaliser when firstly Van Veen’s headflick and then McKinstry’s thumping drive were blocked in a packed six-yard box.
Despite returning from Paisley with nothing to show for their efforts there were a few positives.
Not least the performance of Shane Blaney who was commanding in the air and more than comfortable on the deck and the heart of a defence which limited Kelly to just one save.
Motherwell have made their fourth signing of the January window, with Japanese forward Riku Danzaki joining the club on a two-and-a-half year deal, subject to international clearance.
If that clearance is granted prior to our match with St Mirren, Danzaki would be eligible for selection for the game in Paisley.
Danzaki came through the ranks at Aomori Yamada High School before joining J1 League side Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in 2019.
The 22-year-old made 11 appearances in all competitions in his first year, scoring one goal.
He joined A-League side Brisbane Roar for his first spell in Australia, where he score nine goals in 26 games, netting him the clubs Golden Boot winner for that season.
After impressing in Australia, he joined J2 League side JEF United Chiba on loan. His spell would be hampered by injury and he would only make four appearances for the club before returning to his parent side.
Back fully fit, Danzaki returned to Brisbane Roar for a second time on loan in 2022. He has made 13 appearances netting once before having is loan terminated early, making the permanent switch to Scotland, becoming Motherwell’s first ever Japanese player.
“Riku is one we’ve tracked for a significant period of time and we’re delighted to have it finally confirmed,” manager Steven Hammell said.
“He’s got really positive attributes and a different style to others we have in that area of the pitch.
“He is an energetic, hard-working technical player who has an eye for goal. He has spent the last few days with us, and already he’s fitting in well.
“We are looking forward to working with him over the next couple of years.”
Danzaki will wear the number 14 strip.
マザーウェルは、1月のウィンドウで4人目の契約となる日本人フォワード檀崎竜孔を国際移籍の手続きを経て2年半の契約で獲得した。
セントミレンとの試合前に国際許可が下りれば、ペイズリーで行われる試合に出場することができる。
檀崎は青森山田高校を経て、2019年にJ1リーグの北海道コンサドーレ札幌に入団した。
1年目から公式戦11試合に出場し1ゴールを挙げている。
その後、Aリーグのブリスベン・ロアーに移籍し26試合に出場して9得点を挙げ同シーズンのゴールデンブーツ賞を獲得した。
翌年にはJ2リーグのジェフユナイテッド千葉にレンタル移籍した。
しかしながら怪我などもあり4試合の出場にとどまり退団となった。
そして2022年、再びブリスベン・ロアーにレンタル移籍する。13試合に出場し1得点を挙げたが、レンタル契約を打ち切りスコットランドに移籍し、
マザーウェル初の日本人選手となった。
スティーブン・ハメル監督は、「リクは、我々が長い間追い求めていた選手であり、最終的に獲得が決定したことを嬉しく思っている」と語った。
「彼はとてもポジティブな特性を持っており、他の選手とは異なるスタイルを持っている。」
「エネルギッシュで勤勉な選手でゴールを狙う視座を持っている。彼はここ数日我々と一緒に過ごしているがすでにうまく溶け込んでいる。」
「今後数年間、彼と一緒に仕事ができることを楽しみにしている。」
檀崎は背番号14番のシャツを纏うことになる。
Our cinch Premiership match with Rangers on 18 March, will now kick-off at 12:30pm.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Steven Hammell was thrilled to see his side progress to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, but now wants his team to use that win to springboard their cinch Premiership campaign.
A positive week has been spent on the training pitch with the group and Hammell wants to see the togetherness and competitiveness that his squad have.
Shane Blaney made his Motherwell debut last weekend and is now feeling match fit and ready to get cracking.
The Irish defender signed from Sligo last month but with Irish league finishing in November, he hasn’t had a pre-season and has been biding his time to make his debut.
After a strong 90 minutes against Arbroath, Blaney now want Motherwell to climb that table as he feels the squad is better than the position they currently occupy in the cinch Premiership.
