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“We were the team on the front foot. On another day we win that game and take all three points.”

Motherwell showed their resilience again to fight back and claim a point against Aberdeen.

Vicente Besuijen provided the Dons with a first half lead before a Mark O’Hara goal midway through the second gave ‘Well a deserved equaliser.

But unlike last week the Fir Park failed to produce the spark and the fightback which earned them progression in the Scottish Cup.

Blues skies and sunshine welcomed the teams for a second consecutive Saturday. Apart from the vast improvement in the weather, the sides retained a familiar look.

Not surprisingly, buoyed by the Scottish Cup win over the Dons last week, Motherwell were unchanged.

Although the Dons welcomed back goalkeeper and captain Joe Lewis, the most significant change for visitors was in the dugout where newly-appointed Jim Goodwin took charge of his first game.

Both teams came into this league encounter sharing the unenviable record of going six games without a league win.

For a second week, ‘Well started the game facing the Davie Cooper stand and similarly almost lost an early goal at the other end.

A free kick 30 yards from Liam Kelly’s goal presented Lewis Ferguson with the first chance of the game. Although he did well to curl his shot towards the top left-hand corner of the goal, the ‘Well ‘keeper responded to palm the ball clear.

Motherwell forced a couple of set pieces to test the visitors’ goal but after Kevin van Veen tried to curl one into the net from wide on the left, the ball fell to Liam Donnelly but his powerful volley raced over the bar.

After some neat footwork at the edge of the box, Mark O’Hara squeezed in a shot straight at Lewis although the ‘keeper needed two attempts to gather the ball.

The Dons’ ‘keeper was more decisive after 14 minutes when he raced from his goal to smother the ball at the feet of the inrushing Van Veen, who went headlong over Lewis and then required treatment to his right shoulder.

While nursing his shoulder, Van Veen almost caught out Lewis as he dallied on a David Bates pass back. The keeper was almost embarrassed as he watched his attempt to clear the ball clattered off the ‘Well striker’s boot and rebound a couple of feet wide of his post.

In the 32nd minute, Christian Ramirez thought he had given the Pittodrie men the lead for the second week but a raised flag cancelled out his netted effort from 10 yards.

An Aberdeen goal, though, was only delayed two minutes.

Adam Montgomery outpaced Bevis Mugabi at the edge of the box and although his cross was falling behind the inrushing Besuijen he managed to scoop the ball into the begging goal to make it 1-0.

‘Well responded with an O’Hara corner which found its way out to Sean Goss but he struggled to prevent his volley flying over the crossbar.

The game was drifting towards the half-time whistle when it ended with a bang.

Referee Nick Walsh gave the Fir Park side the advantage after a foul 10 yards outside the box. But as play continued Jonny Hayes dived into a tackle on O’Hara resulting in treatment for both players and a melee amongst both sets of players.

Remarkably, while Hayes escaped a caution, Mugabi and Declan Gallagher were shown a yellow card for their confrontation.

When play resumed, Van Veen was unlucky not to claim his sixth goal against the Dons when his terrific free kick smacked off the face of the post with Lewis well beaten.

The ‘Well striker came close again early in the second half. A long ball from Kelly found Jake Carroll and his pass allowed Van Veen to turn Gallagher, before hammering a low drive towards the near post which Lewis turned behind.

Just after the hour mark, Graham Alexander made a double substitution bringing on Ricki Lamie and Kayne Woolery.

It had an immediate impact when Woolery gathered the ball at the corner of the box and fired towards goal. Van Veen got a touch eight yards out but although Lewis got a glove to the ball it fell for O’Hara to prod it home and level the scores.

That injected some buzz into the home crowd and suddenly ‘Well looked a threat every time they progressed towards the Dons’ goal.

With Woolery posing a threat on the right, Motherwell were in the ascendancy and from a Goss corner Mugabi failed to make contact from four yards when he looked certain to nod the ball home.

As new boss Goodwin pounded the touchline, Aberdeen were not content with a draw and threatened on the break. And it took a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Carroll to prevent Ramirez from having a run on Kelly’s goal.

Four minutes from time, Connor Shields almost popped up with another winner against the Dons.

But after racing into the box from a tight angle his powerful drive couldn’t find the top corner of the goal.

Our cinch Premiership match with Aberdeen will go ahead.

Following a 10am pitch inspection at Fir Park, the match official has ruled the surface is playable.

Kick-off is at 3pm.

The Motherwell boss discusses the changes at our cinch Premiership opponents, and how the team need to focus on what they excel at before worrying about a difference in style from the Dons.

Bevis Mugabi has signed a new deal with the club.

The defender has extended his stay at Motherwell until the summer of 2024.

“We’re delighted that Bevis has committed himself to us for the next two seasons,” Motherwell boss Graham Alexander said.

“He’s been a constant in our team, and even though we have seen a great improvement from him over the last 12 months, we still believe there’s more to come from him.

“He’s a great character to have at our club and he wants to win.”

The popular Ugandan defender first joined the club in September 2019, initially on a short-term deal.

Establishing himself as a key figure, he has since gone on make 62 appearances in claret and amber, and become a regular at international level.

Enjoying a regular run in the first team and earning himself a new contract, Barry Maguire feared the worst when he suffered injury against Hearts recently.

Buckling in a challenge, he immediately worried that he had suffered a serious knee injury, precisely at the time he was making his spot in the side his own.

Thankfully, his injury wasn’t as severe as feared, and the youth academy graduate is on the road back to recovery in the gym at Fir Park.

Graham Alexander has been given a two-game touchline ban.

Our manager has been issued with a suspension by the Scottish FA after being sent off in our recent match with Hibernian.

An additional one-match ban has been suspended until the end of the current season.

Alexander will be absent from the touchline now for our next two cinch Premiership matches with Aberdeen and Rangers.

We’ll face Hibernian in the quarter-final of the 2021/22 Scottish Cup.

The match will be played at Fir Park on the weekend of 12 March 2022.

The date and kick-off time will be confirmed shortly.

Motherwell progressed with victory over Aberdeen on Saturday, while Hibs defeated Arbroath to make the last eight.

2021/22 Scottish Cup quarter-final draw

Hearts v St Mirren

Dundee United v Celtic

Dundee v Rangers

Motherwell v Hibernian

Aberdeen come calling to Fir Park again on Saturday, this time in the cinch Premiership.

Kick-off is at 3pm.

Ticket information

Tickets are now available to buy online or from the Fir Park ticket office. Aberdeen fans are asked to buy directly from their club.

Pay at the gate is not available. Alternatively, call 01698 333333 or email tickets@motherwellfc.co.uk.

Ticket prices are:

Covid restrictions

Due to a change in legislation by the Scottish FA, Covid-19 certification checks will not be in place.

Only venues with over 10,000 in attendance are required to carry out checks.

We advise that all fans take a lateral flow test before travelling to the match, regardless of their vaccination status.

Watch live online

In the UK and Ireland (excluding England), you can buy a pay-per-view pass for £12. To buy, go to ppv.motherwellfc.co.uk.

If you’re based abroad, you can watch via subscription at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

Form guide

Motherwell’s victory over the Dons in the Scottish Cup ended a run of two draws and three defeats.

In the league, ‘Well are without a win in six, with the last coming at home to Livingston on Boxing Day.

Aberdeen have now lost four of their last five matches, with their only positive result coming in a 1-1 draw at Ross County in early February.

Before returning to Fir Park, the managerless side host St Johnstone in the league on Tuesday night.

Tale of the tape

Graham Alexander’s men have now won all three of the encounters between the two sides this season.

Back-to-back 2-0 wins home and away in the league came before the 2-1 victory on Saturday.

Kevin van Veen has netted four in those matches, bagging strikes in both Fir Park matches, and a double at Pittodrie.

Aberdeen’s last win in the fixture came at Pittodrie last January in a 2-0 win. Their last success at Fir Park was a comprehensive 3-0 win in September 2020.

“It was effort, commitment, unity, the lot. We got what we deserved. We have to ask ourselves now how we recreate that.”