Latest News

We have a number of players who are currently out on loan. Here is an update on how they have been getting on. 

Matty Connelly

Connelly and East Kilbride have been in good form in recent weeks.

Since the last update, Connelly has four starts in four games, of which his team won three times and drew once.

He has registered one clean sheet in that time but those strong results have put Kilby firmly in the driving seat to win the Lowland League. They are ten points clear over second place, with a game in hand.

Ricki Lamie

Ricki Lamie picked up an injury that seen him miss seven games over December and January.

The centre-back made his comeback when he was a late substitute for the Dee’s 2-1 win against St Johnstone at the weekend.

Lamie now has 12 appearances as Dundee hunt down a top-six spot in the cinch Premiership.

Ewan Wilson

Ewan Wilson was an unused substitute in Stirling Albion’s most recent match against Alloa Athletic.

He has been on the bench in the three games prior to that, coming on as a substitute in each of those matches, assisting one goal in the process.

Wilson now has 13 appearances in all competitions for Stirling, with them sitting seven points off the playoffs.

Arran Bone

Arran Bone joined Gala Fairydean last month and has started the last three matches.

Playing the full 90 minutes in his three appearances thus far, Bone’s side had two defeats and won their most recent match agains East Stirling.

They’re currently sitting in 15th place in the table however in a tightly congested table, they are only 10 points off Stirling University who are 7th.

Ross Tierney

Ross Tierney has made his comeback from injury at the start of February. He was a second-half substitute in Walsall’s last two matches against Gillingham and Newport County.

That appearance against Newport last weekend means he has now featured on 20 occasions for The Saddlers.

Walsall are 16th in the league table but have a substantial gap to the relegation places and will have one eye on a late promotion push, with them only nine points off of Harrogate Town in the playoffs.

Adam MacDonald

Adam MacDonald added two more appearances to his name for Cowdenbeath since our last update.

The young midfielder started against Bo’ness United and Civil Service Strollers in January.

Cowdenbeath are 13th in the table as they look to close the gap to playoff spots.

Calum Butcher was left disappointed at the performance levels shown on Friday night. 

He says the dressing room was down after the game but they have now reset and shifted the focus towards Wednesday’s match against Aberdeen.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell says on Friday night, his team were collectively poor and they will be working hard to try and get a reaction against Aberdeen on Wednesday night in the cinch Premiership. 

Kettlewell believes they were dragged into a game against Morton that wasn’t what they wanted to play and paid the result for it. Now, it’s about preparing as best they can for a trip to Pittodrie.

Motherwell travel to Aberdeen on Wednesday 14 February. 

Kick off is 7.45pm.

How to follow the game

ALL TICKETS PURCHASED FROM THE ORIGINAL FIXTURE REMAIN VALID FOR THIS MATCH. 

If you wish to receive a refund, you need come into the Ticket Office at Fir Park before 5pm on Wednesday. Refunds won’t be possible after this time.

Tickets available online.

Ambulant supporters pay the age-appropriate price with carer free of charge. All wheelchair and ambulant supporters should contact the ticket office to purchase.

Tickets are on sale from the ticket office and online. We have been sent physical tickets so no etickets are available for this match, so collection only at Fir Park

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.

Kit watch

We will be wearing our away kit for this match.

Injury News

Callum Slattery remains missing for this match. Oli Shaw will be missing through a hamstring injury.

Barry Maguire is a doubt. Jon Obika made his return against Morton.

Motherwell’s Fortunes

It was a disappointing Friday night in Greenock for Motherwell, when they exited the Scottish Cup at the hand of Morton. A 2-1 defeat seen Jack Vale get his second goal in two matches since arriving on loan.

In the last league match, it was a resounding 5-0 win over Ross County, with Theo Bair continuing his hot run of form in the league. The Canadian has scored in each of his last five league outings.

Motherwell’s last defeat in the league came on Christmas Eve against Rangers.

Opposition Report

There’s been a lot happening at Pittodrie in recent weeks. Following a 1-1 draw with Dundee, Barry Robson left his post as manager. Neil Warnock was brought in until the end of the season, with his first match being a trip to Ibrox.

It would be narrow 2-1 defeat in Glasgow for Warnock’s side but they progressed to the next round of the Scottish Cup in their last match, sweeping aside Bonnyrigg Rose 2-0.

Bojan Miovski continues to be the main man for the Dons, netting 22 goals in 36 games this season. He has five in his last four, scoring two in Aberdeen’s last match.

The women of steel’s goalscoring woes persisted in ML3, as a commanding performance over local rivals Hamilton was left unrewarded, as the hosts struck twice against the run of play to secure victory on a disappointing and frustrating derby day in Lanarkshire.

Hamilton forward Josephine Giard and teammate Chloe Muir both added their name to the scoresheet across both halves to give the hosts a comfortable advantage, with debutant Laura Berry netting a late consolation for her first goal in claret and amber.

It’s a sore one to take,” Head Coach Paul Brownlie said.

“We’ve got to take chances and do much better with our decision-making in the final third . We had so many opportunities where we broke the lines, but it’s just that last part we’re missing just now. The players are working hard on it to try and rectify it and get it right.

“I think if we had scored the early goal, it would’ve been completely different, but we never, and at the end of the day if we don’t score goals, we can’t win games.”

Brownlie made two changes from the narrow midweek defeat to title-chasers Celtic, with Emily Mutch returning in the Motherwell goal, as Laura McCartney also returned to the starting XI. January acquisitions Sophia Martin and Laura Berry both secured a place on the bench following international appearances for Scotland at the MIMA cup.

As both sides emerged under the floodlights, Motherwell immediately tested the Hamilton stopper, with the visitors firmly in control of the opening exchanges. Morgan Cross’ driving run on the left sliced through the Accies backline, with the forward teeing up Sarah Gibb at the edge of the penalty area, but the midfielder couldn’t apply the finishing touches.

Less than a minute later, Amy Anderson’s pinpoint cross-field pass accurately picked out Bailley Collins, who found Murron Cunningham midway through the Hamilton penalty area, but the experienced defender couldn’t beat Emma Thomson in the Accies goal.

Motherwell continued to flood the Hamilton penalty area in search of a breakthrough, with Collins’ threading a perfectly-weighted through ball to Cross, who was left one-on-one with the keeper, but Thomson again produced an exceptional reaction save.

Motherwell’s frustrations in the final third continued, as Kayla Jardine’s drilled effort from distance narrowly evaded the Hamilton crossbar, with Cunningham and Chelsie Watson also denied from close-range.

Motherwell’s dominant first-half display was eventually undermined moments before the half-time whistle, with Giard coasting through to the edge of the Motherwell penalty area before firing an unstoppable strike past Emily Mutch, which rattled off of the crossbar before nestling into the back of the visiting net.

10-minutes after the restart, Hamilton doubled their advantage, with Muir drilling an incredible left-footed half-volley from over 30-yards out past Mutch, leaving the women of steel stunned after their assured start to the derby.

The visitors route back into the game came shortly after the hour mark, with debutant Laura Berry latching onto fellow Rangers loanee Kayla Jardine’s floated delivery, before dispatching an accurate right-footed volley past Thomson to give the women of steel some confidence and optimism, as the final half hour approached.

The women of steel toiled in search of a deserved equaliser, with Berry forcing a stop from the Hamilton keeper, after powering a low header from Collins’ whipped through ball. Chances from Collins and Martin followed, but the women of steel couldn’t break through the resolute Hamilton backline and were consigned to a disappointing and frustrating derby day defeat at New Douglas Park on Sunday.

Motherwell’s hopes of an extended Scottish Cup run were ended as Greenock Morton comfortably progressed to the quarter finals.

Start Kettlewell had warned that the trip to Greenock would prove a difficult cup tie and the ‘Well boss was proved correct as a goal in each half was enough to send an under performing ‘Well out of the Cup

There was nothing between the teams until ten minutes from the break when Liam Kelly’s disastrous attempts to deal with a corner ended with the ‘keeper tamely pushing the ball against the luckless Harry Paton and over his own goal line. Ten minutes into the second half Goerge Oakley doubled Morton’s lead and put he home side in the driving seat.

The ‘Well boss committed five subs in an attempt to prevent a shock exit to a Championship side for the second consecutive season. And six minutes from time Jack Vale pulled one back to set up a dramatic end to the game.

Overall, though, the Steelmen failed to match Morton’s desire and determination and can have no complaints about being on the wrong end of a Scottish Cup shock.

Incredibly this was the fifth time the teams had been paired in the Scottish Cup in seven seasons. And with Motherwell having emerged as winners in the previous four, Morton fans were convinced they were due a cup win over the Fir Park side.

Although both teams arrived at Cappielow full of confidence on the back of resounding 5-0 wins, ‘Well faced a Morton side on an excellent run of form, Dougie Imrie’s men boasting a 12 game unbeaten run, and quite rightly fancied to cause a cup upset.

Motherwell made one change from the from the emphatic win over Ross County, Lennon Miller coming in to the midfield as a straight replacement for Andy Halliday.

The Fir Park fans packed behind Liam Kelly’s goal watched Morton make a positive opening as the home side looked to go direct and test the ‘Well defence at every opportunity.

An early fumble from Kelly when he dropped an easy ball towards his goal, gave Morton encouragement to swing every ball onto the ‘keeper.

Although Motherwell settled into their passing game the Premiership side had a huge let off after 19 minutes.

A high ball into the box was nodded into the path of George Oakley, who got behind Calum Butcher before lifting his shot beyond Kelly’s stretch, only to watch the ball rebound from the face of the crossbar.

While the Steelmen were comfortable in possession, they lacked composure in the final third of the pitch, with Theo Bair too often isolated up front.

The game was highly competitive but needed a spark and it arrived in 35th minute when Morton took the lead.

It was a goal which Kelly will want to forget. Robbie Muirhead’s inswinging corner posed a real threat on the visitor’s goal but the ‘Well ‘keeper made a complete mess of things palming the ball against Paton and over his line and reinforce Morton’s belief that an upset was on the cards.

Conversely, while the Fir Park men ended the half around Ryan Mullen’s box, their play lacked a belief and conviction.

Although Motherwell aimed to regain possession and composure in the opening spell of the second half, they were dealt a killer blow ten minutes after the break.

Paul McGinn lost out in the middle of the park and as the ball was immediately sent forward to Oakley who surged into the box before firing the ball low across Butcher and Kelly and into the ‘keeper’s right-hand post for a solid finish and put the home side firmly in control of the cup tie.

Kettlewell immediately made a triple substation sending on full backs Adam Devine and Jili Buyabu, with Jack Vale joining Bair in attack.

That did fire some much needed life into the Steelmen and Buyabu’s low drive into the six box forced a first save from Mullen.

Andy Halliday and Jon Obika were then given 23 minutes to try and get ‘Well back into the tie.

And after passing up a few half chances which gave Mullen a couple of comfortable saves, ‘Well reduced the leeway with six minutes remaining.

Two of the subs combined with Devine firing the ball into the box before Vale’s touch directed it towards goal with a slight deflection carrying the ball beyond Mullen.

Although the Fir Park men pressed for an equaliser and caused some uncertainty in the home box, they never looked like finding an equaliser and sending the game into extra-time.

Stuart Kettlewell reacts to the 2-1 defeat that meant his side crashed out the Scottish Cup.

• Didn’t stand up to the challenge
• Let a lot of people down
• Lost our discipline and structure

Jack Vale introduced himself in stylish fashion to the Motherwell support on Tuesday night, when he scored on his debut having come off the bench against Ross County.

Now, he is looking to continue that positive start into the next games as he looks for another special cup run in his career.

Stuart Kettlewell says that Friday night’s match against Morton has all the makings of a proper cup tie. He believes Morton are a better side than people say and that his side will need to be a full tilt to get through to the next round.

The manager was pleased with Tuesday’s performance against Ross County but knows it’s only one game and that he wants his team to replicate that level to the 1800 travelling ‘Well fans in Greenock.

Oli Shaw has returned to the club following a successful rehabilitation period with his parent club Barnsley. 

He returns on loan until the end of the season.

The striker went back down South to undergo treatment on a hamstring injury but Barnsley have now informed us he should be eligible for selection in the coming weeks.

Shaw has made 16 appearances in his time at Motherwell thus far, recording two assists.

“There was always the possibility of Oli coming back here,” manager Stuart Kettlewell said.

“He returned to Barnsley as both clubs agreed there would be a chance he could reduce his recovery time down there.

“Oli will now enter the final stages of his recovery at Motherwell and will join up with the group when ready.”