| 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 |
Motherwell could potentially face Aberdeen or Kilmarnock in the sixth round of the 2019/20 William Hill Scottish Cup.
The winners of a replay between the Steelmen and St Mirren, due to be played on Tuesday 18 February, will host in the quarter-finals.
The sixth round tie will take place on the weekend of Saturday 29 February and Sunday 1 March.
Hibernian v Inverness CT
St Mirren/Motherwell v Aberdeen/Kilmarnock
St Johnstone v Celtic
Hearts v Rangers
St Johnstone play host to Motherwell on Wednesday night, as the two teams return to league business.
Here’s a look ahead to the match. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Motherwell were pegged back in their William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round tie at St Mirren on Saturday, leading through Mark O’Hara’s goal but having to settle for a replay in a 1-1 draw.
Stephen Robinson’s men have one win in the last five – a 1-0 win at Aberdeen – with draws against St Mirren and Hibernian, and defeats to Celtic and Livingston.
St Johnstone came from an early goal behind at Championship side Ayr United on Saturday, prevailing 2-1 through first-half goals.
They’ve lost just one of their last five – a 3-0 home loss to Celtic – in between a draw with Hearts and wins over Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.
Motherwell have won four of the last five encounters between the two sides, with St Johnstone winning the other.
The most recent match saw the Steelmen run out 4-0 winners at Fir Park. Devante Cole, Peter Hartley, Jake Carroll and Christy Manzinga all netted in a convincing win.
St Johnstone’s last win in the fixture came in May 2019 at McDiarmid Park, with Scott Tanser and Murray Davidson netting in a 2-0 victory.
Tickets are available online now to collect at Fir Park.
Alternatively, you can buy online direct from St Johnstone and print your ticket at home, or use a mobile ticket. Or pay at the gate on the night.
| Adult | £24 |
| Over 65s | £14 |
| 17-18 year olds | £13 |
| 13-16 year olds | £10 |
Children aged under 13 can get in for free with a paying adult or over 65.
Fans who require ambulant or wheelchair access should contact Andy Sim on 07428 225254 or email tickets@mfcdsa.com.
If you’re outside the UK/Ireland, you can watch St Johnstone v Motherwell on our live streaming service.
Priced at £12 a month, just head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk to subscribe.
Wherever you are, there’s also live audio commentary available on our streaming service for £5.99 a month.
Mark O’Hara’s first half strike was cancelled out to ensure a William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round replay is required.
“We’re happy to still to be in the hat and we’ll take them back to Fir Park.”
Stephen Robinson reacts to Motherwell’s cup draw at St Mirren.
Both sides survived the early elements of Storm Ciara to emerge from a keenly-contested William Hill Scottish Cup tie with honours shared.
Mark O’Hara’s goal midway through the first half allowed Motherwell to hold an advantage, which they looked like extending in a second half they largely dictated, until Alex Jakubiak fired home Saints’ equaliser 17 minutes from time.
On the basis that they produced a decent game and a number of goal scoring chances in testing weather conditions, both teams probably deserved a second chance to finish the tie at Fir Park on the 18 February
With the exception of Allan Campbell, who was only fit enough for a place on the bench, Stephen Robinson stood by the starting side which played so well in the first half against Celtic. Mark O’Hara came into the midfield, with ‘Well again starting with a front three of Rolando Aarons, Christopher Long and Jermaine Hylton. Tony Watt’s short term signing was given international clearing to afford the former Celtic striker a seat beside Campbell.
It was almost a disastrous start for ‘Well. Inside the first five minutes Liam Donnelly lost possession on the right touchline and when the ball came into the visitor’s box Ilkay Durmas slammed his shot against the foot of the post.
‘Well’s response was a tempting cross from Liam Grimshaw but the wind carried the ball beyond the waiting Jermaine Hylton.
The next attack after 11 minutes was more productive. Aarons’ quick feet carried him inside Calum Waters and his rising shot from 18 yards forced Vaclav Hladky into a fine save to push the ball away from his goal.
It was an entertaining, end-to-end cup tie and Mark Gillespie had to make a smart stop after punching a corner only as far as the edge of his box and Jamie McGrath attempted to lob the ball over the ‘keeper.
The first goal arrived after 21 minutes. Long raced onto a through ball but one to one with the ‘keeper Hladky blocked the striker’s effort. The ball rebounded into the path of Mark O’Hara who confidently slammed the ball past a couple of defenders from 12 yards and put the Steelmen in front.
The lead could have been doubled a few minutes later. Liam Polworth released Long down the right channel and after cutting the ball back onto his left foot, his curling shot, slightly assisted by the wind, gave the Saints ‘keeper a nervous moment before he held the ball high to his right.
Afetr 34 minutes the Fir Park side had to thank Gillespie for a terrific save to maintain their lead. Durmas’ cross from the left found Alex Jakubiak unmarked on the penalty spot but his drive down the middle of the goal was brilliantly blocked by Gillespie’s feet.
As Saints attempted to return the ball into the packed box there were loud appeals for handball, but referee Andrew Dallas ignored the penalty claims.
Three minutes from the break Long tested the home ‘keeper with a quick turn and powerful drive from 25 yards which Hladky managed to squeeze round his right hand post – as the 1,600 ‘Well fans packed behind his goal were about to celebrate a second goal.
Facing a rising wind and deteriorating conditions the Steelmen were prepared to be patient in possession from the start of the second half.
A couple of corners early in the half put the home goal under some pressure and in a quick break O’Hara’s final pass across goal was just too far in front of Aarons.
As the weather started to have an impact on the game, ‘Well goal had a narrow escape. Grimshaw ending a goalmouth scramble by hammering the ball off a grounded Saints’ player and behind his own goal.
Motherwell, though, looked the more likely to score and in a decent period of possession and press on the Buddies box, Long had a couple of efforts, firing one wide before forcing a great block from Hladky.
With 72 minutes played Campbell replaced Aarons but before the ‘Well sub could get a touch Saints stunned the visiting fans with an equaliser.
Their substitute Kyle McAllister made his way into a packed box before playing the ball to Jakubiak who drilled the ball low through a forest of legs and inside Gillespie’s right-hand post.
Five minutes later ‘Well thought they had regained the leadbut O’Hara’s angled drive sped across Hladky and just beyond his right hand post.
That was O’Hara’s final involvement as he made way for Tony Watt in the hope that the striker would find a winner on his debut.
Liam Donnelly then powered a trademark 20 yard drive inches away from the net as the Fir Park men looked to finish the tie.
However, the winner almost came the Buddies’ way and only Gillespie, at full stretch to push a thundering Durmas’ drive beyond his left-hand post – allowed both teams to settle for a replay.
There’s live audio commentary available from St Mirren v Motherwell on Saturday.
All fans can listen to the action direct from the The Simple Digital Arena. Kick off is at 3pm GMT. Live video is not available for this match.
If you’re abroad, you subscribe and get all Motherwell home matches – and the majority of away games. Head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk now and sign up.
If you’re in the UK or Ireland and can’t make it, don’t worry. We’ve also got live audio commentary every week for just £5.99 a month.
Head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk to sign up. Just choose the UK/Ireland commentary option.
2019/20 Motherwell streaming service matches
| Date | Match | Service available |
| 8 February 2020 | St Mirren v Motherwell | Live audio only |
| 12 February 2020 | St Johnstone v Motherwell | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 15 February 2020 | Motherwell v St Mirren | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 22 February 2020 | Hamilton v Motherwell | Live audio only |
| 4 March 2020 | Motherwell v Ross County | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 7 March 2020 | Hearts v Motherwell | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 14 March 2020 | Motherwell v Aberdeen | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 21 March 2020 | Motherwell v Kilmarnock | Live video outside UK/Ireland, audio to all |
| 4 April 2020 | Rangers v Motherwell | Live audio only |
Stephen Robinson looked ahead to the William Hill Scottish Cup tie with St Mirren, the capture of Tony Watt and Rolando Aarons’ impact when he spoke on Friday morning.
Here’s what he said to the broadcast media.
We lost James right at the last minute. We turned down a number of bids, until we eventually got to a selling point that was right for everybody.
The deal wasn’t done until about half 11 at night, so we didn’t have the opportunity to replace him.
I think what he gave us different to everybody else was a physical presence and then gave us an outlet in all three attacking positions.
To get somebody like Tony with his experience at this stage, we were very pleased with that. I think he adds experience to the squad. He’s very, very hungry. That’s the big key to me.
There’s no doubting his talent. We know he’s a talented boy and he’s come in and done very well over the period of time he’s been here. So we’re hoping he’ll have a real positive impact on things.
It was a case of, did Tony want this, did we want this, did we need this, whatwere Tony’s fitness levels and hunger levels. All those boxes were ticked.
I was actually convinced after the first day. I think he’s got his hunger back. It is a short term contract to earn a longer-term one. It’s a short term deal at the minute, but it’ll turn into hopefully a longer-term one if it’s successful for both parties.
You say about player finding a home. Almost all our players are like that. They travel around a little bit. They have disappointments and things don’t quite go their way, otherwise they’re not coming to Motherwell.
We’ve inherited Tony who, yes, has had a lot of clubs. He’s been up and down but there’s never been any doubt in that he’s a talented boy.
If we can harness that talent, get him fit and get him really believing in what we do, which I genuinely think he will do, he’ll be a big asset to us.
I think we need choices. I don’t think anybody’s really nailed down positions in that area.
I think behind them we are quite solid. The team at times picks itself, bar maybe one or two changes I’ll do sometimes to freshen things up.
But the front three is an area that we chop and change all the time. So it’s up to people to put consistency down and put their stamp down. And trying to make sure they’re one of the first names on the team sheet.
So we need competition in areas. It’s the hardest part of the team. It’s the area of the team that wins football matches. That’s why, at the top levels, they get paid the big bucks. I’m happy with competition. If people don’t like that, then fine. But it keeps people on their toes.
Rolando hadn’t played for two months. We didn’t want to take him off. We were desperate to keep him on the pitch. But I think every bit of his body was cramping up.
When you’re training every day, it’s not the same as playing games. So I’m sure with every bit of match fitness that he gets, every bit of training and when he gets a more understanding than about what we want as well, I think we’ve got a very good player.
The important bit is to make sure we keep him fit in and get him minutes on the pitch.
It’s going to be a good game. One we are looking forward to. It’s quite local to us, we’ll take a lot of fans. We’ve already sold out our allocation. Fantastic.
People say to me we haven’t won for three games. Well, I thought we were excellent against Hibs. But we were poor against Livingston and we had a very, very good first half performance against Celtic.
The reality was they overpowered us in the second half. And sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and we’ve got to take the positives from that.
If we play like we did in the first half, we can continue to have a very successful season.
I think Jim Goodwin’s done a very good job there. His team are solid. They’re really well organised. They’re very hard to break down with one of the best defensive records in the league.
They do sit in and try and hit you on the counter attack. So it’s up to us to take the game to them. I felt we tried to take the game to Celtic as well. When we don’t, I don’t think that’s the best bit of our game.
So we’ll go and try and take the game to them. We have to be solid behind that and make sure we don’t concede on the break. But I’m going with a real positive mentality.
Tony Watt has joined Motherwell on a deal until the end of the season.
The 26-year-old bolsters the team’s attacking options for the remainder of the campaign, signing on a free transfer after leaving CSKA Sofia in January.
Watt joined the squad for a training stint on Monday and has quickly impressed to be offered a contract. His move is subject to international clearance from the Bulgarian FA.
“Tony is a player who maybe has a little bit of a point to prove,” manager Stephen Robinson said of the move.
“We lost James Scott at the last second of the window. So being able to bring a player of Tony’s experience in on a short-term deal is a big boost for us.
“He will bring us another option in attack as we look to secure a top six place and push on.”
Watt scored five in 676 minutes in domestic football in Bulgaria earlier this season, and also featured in UEFA Europa League qualifiers for CSKA.
The Scotland international has also had spells in the English Championship, the Belgian top flight, and in the Scottish Premiership with St Johnstone, Hearts and Celtic, having debuted in the Challenge Cup as a 16-year-old with Airdrie United.
St Mirren lie in wait in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Here’s a look at our opponents.
St Mirren came through their fourth round tie at home to Broxburn Athletic after going in 0-0 at half-time, with Jon Obika scoring a double in a 3-0 victory.
Unbeaten in four of their five matches since coming back from the winter break, Jim Goodwin’s side have one win, three draws and a 1-0 loss at Rangers on their record.
Retaining the services of Vaclav Hladky for the remainder of the season may be a pivotal moment in St Mirren’s battle to remain in the top-flight.
The Czech keeper has been in phenomenal form throughout the campaign and Wednesday night’s meeting with Hamilton was no different as he denied Marios Ogkmpoe with a quite remarkable stop that proved to be vital in earning Saints a share of the spoils.
Out of contract in the summer, Hladky is certain to have a host of potential suitors, though has already insisted his focus is on St Mirren and to enjoy a successful end to their league and cup campaigns.
Irish defender Conor McCarthy has enjoyed a solid start to life at St Mirren after arriving from Cork City last month.
The 21-year-old has only sampled defeat in one of his five outings for Saints – a 1-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox.
Earlier this season he turned out for Cork in the Europa League, scoring against FC Progrès Niederkorn and he opened his goal account for the Buddies when he headed them ahead in last Saturday’s fixture against Hibs at Easter Road.
Ilkay Durmus’ equaliser in Wednesday’s 1-1 stalemate with Hamilton raised the midfielder, who got on the scoresheet for the third time this season to the club’s second top-scorer.
With Saints the lowest scorers in the Premiership, they will need to show a greater spark in front of goal and Durmus has shown a knack for coming up with some crucial goals – netting the winner in fixtures against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.
Durmus’ direct wing play and electric pace will pose a real challenge for the ‘Well backline, capped by Turkey up to U20s level, he started off as a youth player at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart before moving to Turkey to sign for Gençlerbirligi in 2012.
Away end tickets are sold out for this match.
We’ve still got limited space left on one of our supporters’ buses.
Tickets are sold out for the match but it’s not too late to secure your transport directly from our Cooper Bar direct to the stadium.
To book, buy your bus ticket online right now or call 01698 333333.
We’ve got live audio commentary of the match for just £5.99 a month.
To subscribe and get all Motherwell home matches – and the majority of away games – head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk now and sign up.
The Cooper Bar is open from 12pm for food and drink ahead of travelling to the match.
William Hill Scottish Cup action lies in wait next, as Motherwell travel to take on St Mirren.
Kick-off at St Mirren Park is at 3pm.
St Mirren are yet to win in their four league matches since returning from the winter break, but are unbeaten in their last three matches courtesy of three draws.
A 0-0 home result with Aberdeen was followed by a 2-2 draw at Hibernian last weekend, before the 1-1 midweek tie at home to Hamilton Academical.
Their last win came in the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round, as Broxburn Athletic were despatched 3-0 at home.
Motherwell have won both encounters between the two sides so far this season.
A 2-0 home win in October, in which James Scott and Christopher Long netted, was followed by a convincing 3-0 away win in early December.
Scott netted a double that evening, with Allan Campbell also on target.
Away end tickets are sold out for this match.
Purchased tickets must be collected from Fir Park before 4pm on Friday before the match. Alternatively, collect from the main ticket window at St Mirren Park on the day of the game.
We’ve still got limited space left on one of our supporters’ buses.
Tickets are sold out for the match but it’s not too late to secure your transport directly from our Cooper Bar direct to the stadium.
To book, buy your bus ticket online right now or call 01698 333333.
We want everyone to enjoy the match safely. Please do not bring in or set off any pyrotechnic devices inside the stadium.
Doing so not only risks your own safety and that of other spectators, it also runs the risk of punishment against the club. particularly after the previous round at Dundee where two devices were set off and were referenced in the delegate’s report to the Scottish FA.
We’ve got live audio commentary of the match for just £5.99 a month.
To subscribe and get all Motherwell home matches – and the majority of away games – head to tv.motherwellfc.co.uk now and sign up.
The Cooper Bar is open from 12pm for food and drink ahead of travelling to the match.
