| 3 | Rangers | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 22 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 19 |
| 5 | Motherwell | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 19 |
| 6 | St Mirren | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -5 | 15 |
| 7 | Dundee | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -6 | 12 |
18-year-old Lennon Miller remains fully focused on his football on a Saturday, as he shuts out all the outside speculation about his future.
Miller discusses the team’s performance on Sunday against Hearts and how everyone is looking to follow that result up against St Johnstone this weekend.
Manager Stuart Kettlewell provides a transfer update ahead of the summer window closing tomorrow at 11pm. The Motherwell manager says nobody needs to leave the club and that the only planned departures would be for the younger plays going out on loan.
Kettlewell talks about how his side will have to add layers onto Sunday’s impressive display and also refers back to the strong recruitment the team has had over the summer.
Krisztián Hegyi has been called up by Hungary’s Under 21s.
The 21-year-old has 22 caps at Under 21 level and earned his first call up to the first-team in March.
Hungary take on Slovakia in a friendly match on Thursday 5 September and then face Spain in Euro Under 21 qualifying action.
The Hungarians are in the same group as Lennon Miller and Scotland’s Under 21 side.
Lennon Miller has been named in the Scotland Under 21 squad.
Scotland have two matches in September, taking on Spain and Malta in Under 21 Euro qualifiers.
They face off against Spain on Friday 6 September, before travelling to Malta on Tuesday 10 September.
With six matches played so far, Scotland are in a good position. They are currently in second place on 13 points, three points behind leaders Spain.
Malta are bottom of the group and are yet to pick up a point.
Motherwell travel to Perth on Saturday 31 August to take on St Johnstone in the William Hill Premiership.
Kick off is 3pm.
The online link for Motherwell supporters purchasing tickets is here.
| Away Stand | |
| Adults | £25 |
| Concessions >65/Under 20 | £16 |
| Juveniles (Under 12, no admission without adult) | £0 |
| Family Adult (1x adult with max 2x Under 12) | £20 |
| Ambulant Disabled Adult (must be in receipt of PIP/DLA) | £25 |
| Ambulant Concession Adult (must be in receipt of PIP/DLA) | £16 |
| Personal Assistant (no admission without ambulant disabled supporter) | £0 |
Please note, for the £20 family deal, all ticket holders must enter via turnstile 5 which will be monitored by stewards. Strictly one adult and max of two Under 12s only. These will be available to purchase online.
Tickets for Motherwell area of the ground will not be available via the St Johnstone FC website.
We will be wearing our away kit for this match.
Callum Slattery, Harry Paton, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Ross Callachan, Sam Nicholson, Shane Blaney and Johnny Koutroumbis remain out for this game.
Filip Stuparevic is a doubt.
Motherwell got their first win in the Premiership against Hearts on Sunday, registering an impressive 3-1 win over the Jambos.
That three points and a point on the opening day, mean the Steelmen are currently on four points after three games, with a quarter final to look forward to in the Premier Sports Cup.
The goals have been spread out amongst the team so far, with Ebiye, O’Donnell, McGinn, Sparrow, Balmer, Stuparevic, Casey and Miller all off the mark thus far.
St Johnstone got off the mark in the league in their second match against Kilmarnock. A convincing 3-0 win at Rugby Park against ten men Killie was followed up with a 2-0 defeat in the league against Dundee United last weekend.
Adama Sidibeh has made a strong start to the season, with the forward scoring four goals so far. The Gambian seen red against Dundee United so won’t be available for selection.
Benjamin Kimpioka has scored six goals already this season, five of which came in the Premier Sports Cup group-stage.
Motherwell produced a sensational performance when Hearts came to Fir Park. With both teams still seeking their first win of the new Premiership season, both were hungry to get off the mark early.
But it was the Steelmen who started strongly, setting the tone for the rest of the match. Lennon Miller, Dan Casey and Andy Halliday all had chances before Paul McGinn found the opener at the back post from a free-kick.
The second-half started in similar fashion with Motherwell remaining on the front foot. Stephen O’Donnell doubled the lead before Hearts pulled one back in a rare attack from forward.
Stuart Kettlewell’s men didn’t take their foot off the gas however and were rewarded when Tom Sparrow scored his first professional goal to seal the win and send the Fir Park faithful home happy after a strong Sunday showing.
Forward Tawanda Maswanhise is in the Zimbabwe squad for their September fixtures.
Maswanhise earned his first cap for the Warriors in March of this year against Kenya.
He has since gone on to represent his country on two more occasions in June and will to have an impact as Zimbabwe kick off their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Since their last outing in June, Michael Nees has been named the new head coach of the side.
They take on Kenya on Wednesday 4 September away from home before returning home to face Cameroon on Tuesday 10 September.
Namibia are also in Group J alongside the Warriors.
Motherwell produced an impressive all round team performance to beat Hearts for a commanding 3-1 win.
The home side largely controlled proceedings for the first hour and their dominance and pressure on the Hearts goal was rewarded with a two goal lead thanks to headed efforts from Paul McGinn and Stephen O’Donnell.
But Hearts remained in the game. Yutaro Oda’s goal after 66 minutes provided the Edinburgh side with a second wind as they chased an equaliser that looked beyond them.
However eight minutes from time, Tom Sparrow found the perfect moment to claim his first goal in claret and amber to restore ‘Well’s two goal advantage and round off a fabulous 90 minutes from the Steelmen.
After their extra-time Premier Sports Cup win over Kilmarnock last Sunday, Stuart Kettlewell, not surprisingly, made one significant change to his starting line-up.
After making a huge impact from the bench to overcome a stubborn Rugby Park side, former Leicester City youth Tawanda Maswanhise was given his first start. Deployed further upfield, he replaced Steve Seddon, with Ewan Wilson dropping back on the left side.
For the second consecutive game, Motherwell faced a side recovering from the rigours of a midweek European tie.
Steven Naismith’s men appeared to suffer no hangover from the narrow defeat to Czech opponents Victoria Plzen, who visit Tynecastle on Thursday evening.
Hearts showed lots of energy and possession opening minutes but that soon evaporated as the Steelmen set about pressing the visitor’s goal for most of the first half.
The first of several attacks came after nine minutes when Wilson released Maswanhise, who cut inside his marker before seeing his shot blocked.
Blair Spittal, on his first return to Fir Park, then gave possession to Liam Gordon and his cross ball set up Maswanhise and this time his shot was deflected for a corner. Lennon Miller’s free kick found Dan Casey rising in the six yard box, only to power his header wide.
The ‘Well players were confident in possession and after 22 minutes, a sustained period of keeping the ball only forced an outstanding save from Craig Gordon to deny the home side the lead.
As the ball was moved from the right to the left wing, Maswanhise slung the ball beyond the Hearts’ back post. O’Donnell stretched to direct the ball back across the face of goal and Andy Halliday’s header looked destined for the back of the net until the veteran Scotland keeper somehow reacted to deflect the ball over his crossbar.
The deserved opener was only delayed three minutes. From a well rehearsed free kick, Miller floated the ball beyond a line of players at the edge of the box to pick out McGinn who stooped to head the ball back across Gordon and into his far corner of the net.
On the half hour mark the 41 year-old ‘keeper produced another fine stop. Again, it was a flowing build up from the home side until Wilson fed Maswanhise, who nipped between two defenders before hammering a shot high towards goal, which Gordon pushed over the bar.
A second goal at this stage would surely have rattled a tired looking Tynecastle side.
But 10 minutes from the break they almost levelled when Spittal’s low drive through a packed home box was cleared off the line by Wilson.
On the stroke of half-time, Halliday, who was impressive against his former club, took a heavy knock and it was no surprise when five minutes into the second half, he was replaced by Tony Watt.
Within a minute and with his first touch, the substitute’s thumping angled drive forced Gordon to beat the ball away.
The Edinburgh side was unable to match ‘Well’s continued press and energy and it was no surprise when they conceded a second goal on the hour mark.
Wilson was tripped as he sped down the left touchline and when Miller whipped the resultant free kick towards the six yard area, O’Donnell nipped in to plant his header past Gordon.
That produced a long overdue threat on Aston Oxborough’s from the visitors.
It took a brilliant block from Casey after 65 minutes to deny Lawrence Shankland from 16 yards.
A minute later, Hearts found the net when substitute Oda dragged the ball across the 18 yard box before squeezing his low shot between the ‘Well keeper and his left hand post.
Suddenly, Naismith’s men were on the front foot and it was the Steelmen’s turn to be camped around their own box.
That prompted Kettlewell to make a double substitution in the 73rd minute, bringing on Tom Sparrow and Steve Seddon, in place of Robinson and Maswanhise, leaving Watt to fill the sole striker’s role.
And it was Sparrow who killed off any thoughts of a late fightback, when he darted into the box and from an angle, drove the ball past Gordon to make certain that all three points were staying at Fir Park.
Stuart Kettlewell gives his thoughts as we claim our first three points of the season.
Paul McGinn, Stephen O’Donnell and Tom Sparrow all netted in a 3-1 win over Hearts.
Manager Stuart Kettlewell says all injured players are currently on track for their initial scheduled returns. Filip Stuparevic is back in training ahead of Sunday’s match.
Kettlewell discusses the recent study which showed Motherwell have given homegrown talent the highest number of minutes last season in the league. Despite Hearts’ recent European match, Kettlewell has no doubt the Jambos will be coming to ML1 looking for maximum points and will be fully focused on the game.
