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Stephen Robinson speaks after Motherwell open their 2018/19 pre-season schedule with a win away to Crusaders in Belfast.

Motherwell kicked off their 2018/19 pre-season schedule with a friendly win away to Crusaders.

Danny Johnson scored with the last touch of the ball to secure a 1-0 victory in Belfast, with his back post header finding the net in Jordan Owens’ testimonial match.

The Steelmen played two different XIs in each half, giving the majority of the squad who travelled playing time.

New goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and left back Aaron Taylor-Sinclair both got starts, with Peter Hartley also making his return from injury.

The heat at Seaview took the tempo down somewhat, with both sides having a handful of chances to open the scoring.

An acrobatic effort from Ryan Bowman was the visitors’ best attempt, while the hosts were denied by an offside flag and an incredible save from Gillespie.

The second half saw the introduction of a whole new 11 players, including summer recruits Alex Rodríguez Gorrín, Liam Donnelly and Danny Johnson.

And it was the latter who would find the net just before the referee’s whistle.

Elliott Frear, who had been industrious down the left flank, swung the ball to the back post where Johnson was on hand to nod the ball home.

Next up for Motherwell is a closed doors game with Morton on Tuesday, followed by the trip to Darlington next Sunday.

Tickets for our trip to face Crusaders on Saturday, 30 June can be purchased on the gate.

Motherwell will head to Belfast for Jordan Owens’ testimonial in the game at Seaview. Kick off is at 1pm.

Adults can get in for £10, while concessions are priced at £5.

Twenty-four players have travelled to the club’s pre-season training camp in the Republic of Ireland and all will travel north, with the likelihood most will see playing time.

From our pre-season base in Ireland, defender Cédric Kipré and new midfielder Alex Rodríguez Gorrín have a go at understanding some Scottish humour by reading out some funny tweets.

The 2017/18 season provided plenty cause to be optimistic about what’s being built at Motherwell, with the team having reached both national cup finals and narrowly missed out on a top six finish.

With the core of the group retained for the new campaign, and further depth added to the squad in key positions, manager Stephen Robinson’s decision to take the team back to Carton House in Ireland for pre-season training was very much about trying to set the same standards again.

Defender Peter Hartley wasn’t a Motherwell player this time 12 months ago, but he quickly became aware of the level expected.

A pivotal figure in the backline before injury curtailed his season last year, the Englishman says the return across the Irish Sea is about more than simply trying to replicate what’s gone before. Instead, he says, it’s about raising standards further and finding another level.

“We’re not planning on standing still,” he said. “We are planning on moving forward and breaking into the top six.

If you stand still, you’ll get overtaken. We have to improve. The only way to do that is to grow, get fitter and instil the principles again.

“If we do that, the target is to win a cup final this time, or get into the top six.”

A foot injury picked up in January ruled the former Plymouth Argyle man out for several months at the start of 2018.

Having maintained his status as an important figure behind the scenes during his layoff, Hartley says he’s now completely ready to impose himself again on the field.

“I feel great,” he said. “I am pain free. I am making sure I am getting my match sharpness when I can and getting involved with practically everything.”

Barry Maguire has extended his stay with Motherwell for the 2018/19 season.

The central defender, who made his first team debut towards the end of last campaign, has signed a new one-year deal.

Maguire, 20, has made three appearances in claret and amber to date.

“I am delighted to be staying with the club,” he said after signing on. “I got a taste of first team football last season and felt I handled it well.

”My goal now is to try and stay in the manager’s thoughts and get into the team.”

Manager Stephen Robinson added: “Barry has shown he has the ability to step up to the first team and give us further options at centre back.”

”We are pleased he is staying on and hope we can keep pushing him to fulfil his potential.”

Our pre-season friendly away to Darlington has been changed to a 3pm kick off.

The game will still be played on Sunday, 8 July at the Quakers’ Blackwell Meadows ground.

For 2018/19, we are going fully claret and amber with our home and away kits.

Motherwell’s fifth campaign with Italian manufacturers Macron sees the classic, predominantly amber home jersey complemented by white shorts.

Our away jersey is a stylish, all claret number with amber flashes on the shirt and shorts, and fully amber socks.

You can pre-order them online right now via our online store.

Home shirts will be fully on sale and available from 4 July. A date for the release of our away kit will be confirmed shortly.

Our squad numbers for the 2018/19 season have been confirmed, with a host of players taking up new jerseys for the campaign ahead.

Captain Carl McHugh makes the switch to number four, with Allan Campbell stepping up to take on the club’s number eight jersey.

Cédric Kipré has been handed the number five jersey, while Liam Grimshaw, George Newell and Gaël Bigirimana move to numbers 15, 16 and 17 respectively.

Goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson, returning from his loan spell at Airdrieonians, will wear number 13.

Our new intake of Under 18 professionals have also been allocated squad numbers for the season.

MOTHERWELL FC SQUAD NUMBERS FOR 2018/19

Spanish midfielder Alejandro Rodríguez Gorrín is Motherwell FC’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window.

The 24-year-old, who counts Sunderland, Wellington Phoenix, Boavista and Sepsi OSK amongst his former teams, has signed an initial one-year deal with the club.

Alex came close to joining the Steelmen in January, training with the squad at their winter training camp in Tenerife, but a deal to move to Romania was all but completed and he made the move there.

“I like both parts of the game,” he said on his arrival at Fir Park. “I like to tackle and be aggressive, but I like to have the ball as well.

“I know in Scotland you like to attack, and it’s something I can do as well.

“Short term, I want to adjust to a new league and it will be different, maybe more physical. Then I’ll see after that. I will take it step by step, get pre-season under my belt and then have a good season.”

The Canary Islander came through the youth ranks at Sunderland, where he found himself teammates with current ‘Well stopper Trevor Carson.

He captained the youth team at the Stadium of Light, but could never break into the then-English Premier League side’s first team.

He left Sunderland in 2014 and moved across the world to sign with New Zealand-based, A-League club Wellington Phoenix.

He spent three seasons with the Nix, clocking up 72 appearances, before a move to Portuguese side Boavista last summer. However, his stay in Oporto only lasted six months before moving to Romania with Transylvanian side Asociația Club Sportiv Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe.

“We’ve been working to get Alex for a while now, so we are pleased to welcome him to the club,” ‘Well boss Stephen Robinson added.

“We got to see him first hand with the squad when we were in Tenerife and were really keen to sign him if the opportunity arose.

“He will give us real options in the middle of the pitch, where we now have a lot of competition for places. He can break up the play, take ownership of the ball and has a good range of passing.”

Alex will wear squad number 23 in the forthcoming 2018/2019 season.