| 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 |
Mika Biereth is set to spend up to three months on the sidelines.
The Arsenal loanee sustained a knee injury in our Viaplay Cup match against St Mirren on Saturday.
Scans have revealed a serious knee injury and means the striker will miss 12 weeks of the season.
Our loan agreement with Arsenal has not changed as a result of this injury.
We wish Mika all the best in his recovery and look forward to seeing him back playing soon.
Fir Park will be Scotland’s Under 21 venue for matches against Hungary and Malta in October.
Kick-off times and tickets details have yet to be confirmed but will be communicated as soon as possible.
Scotland begin their UEFA Euro Under 21-Championship qualifiers. The Scots have three matches in October, kicking off the round of fixtures with a trip to Spain before a double header at Fir Park.
Lennon Miller has been called up to Scotland’s Under 19 squad for the first time.
The 16-year-old has started all but one game for Motherwell this season and makes the step up in grade for the first time.
Named Motherwell player of the month for July, Miller has two goals to his name already this season.
The Under 19 squad, coached by Billy Stark, have two friendlies lined up for September.
They will face Belgium before taking on Czech Republic, with both matches taking place in Belgium at the Stedelijk Sportstadion Hasselt stadium.
Belgium v Scotland – 4pm KO
Czech Republic v Scotland – 2pm KO
With a spot in the quarter finals of the Viaplay Cup up for grabs, Motherwell travelled to St Mirren in what was always going to be a tightly contested match.
Manager Stuart Kettlewell said in the lead up to the match that it was going to be close between the two matches and it would prove to be just that.
St Mirren took lead after nine minutes, through a wonder strike from Caolan Boyd-Munce from the edge of the box.
1400 Motherwell fans were in attendance in Paisley and they continued to bring the noise for the rest of the game. Theo Bair went close after half time, with Conor Wilkinson also going agonisingly close thereafter.
Still trailing, there were strong appeals from the ‘Well when former defender Charles Dunne smashed into Mika Biereth, subsequently injuring the striker. The referee seen it only worthy of a yellow and the game would end 1-0, with St Mirren advancing to the next round.
Motherwell were knocked out of the Viaplay Cup by St Mirren on Saturday, falling to a 1-0 defeat on Saturday.
Caolan Boyd-Munce’s first half strike proved to be the only goal of the game.
The Northern Irishman’s strike gave St Mirren the early lead after just nine minutes. He smashed home first time from just outside the box, before Keanu Baccus went close to doubling their lead.
Dan Casey claimed for a handball in the penalty area following a Motherwell corner, however referee Willie Collum waved away any claims.
At the start of the second half, Motherwell looked brighter. Theo Bair shifted the ball onto his left foot before smashing the ball goal bound. It would take a tremendous save from Zach Hemming in the St Mirren net to tip the Canadians strike over the bar.
Conor McMenamin looked set to double the hosts’ advantage on 74 minutes, when he found himself through 1v1 with Liam Kelly. Casey raced back and managed to get the block in before the winger could get a strike away.
Lennon Miller and Mika Biereth were second half substitutes and it was the latter who created one of the best chances in the match. Callum Slattery drove the ball forward, waited for the opportune moment to play in Danish Under 21 international Biereth, he played the ball across goal in search of strike partner Conor Wilkinson but the number 99 couldn’t get on the end of it. Still 1-0 St Mirren.
Toyosi Olusanya had the golden chance to ensure progression to the quarter finals but couldn’t convert past Liam Kelly.
The game would end in controversy, with Charles Dundee lunging in two-footed on Biereth. Collum only adjudged the tackle worthy of a yellow card with the Arsenal loanee picking up an injury in the process.
The manager reacts to the Viaplay Cup exit at the hands of St Mirren.
Barry Maguire has joined Kidderminster Harries on loan until January 8 2024.
Maguire has made three appearances in the Viaplay Cup this campaign.
Kidderminster have played three games so far in the National League season and are currently on four points.
The 25-year-old now heads south having been on loan at Dundee last season.
We wish Barry the best of luck.
Midfielder Blair Spittal has only been on one cup run in his career, which was back in 2015 when he was on the bench for Dundee United in the league final.
He never appeared that day and it has made him realise how often chances to go deep in the cup come around.
Spittal is enjoying life at Motherwell and says the 1991 Scottish Cup winning team are renowned at Fir Park for what they achieved, and that is something the players here today should be looking to replicate.
Our match against Hearts at Tynecastle next month has a new date.
The match will now place on Sunday 3 September.
Kick off is 3pm.
This is due to Hearts’ participation in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Stuart Kettlewell is optimistic ahead of our trip to Paisley on Saturday in the Viaplay Cup.
The manager admire Stephen Robinson and how he sets his team’s up and knows that the Steelmen will need to be at their very best to progress.
In other news, the manager informs the press that Jon Obika has suffered an injury setback and will be missing for a longer period tha
