There will be no last gasp jump into the top half of the table for Motherwell. Last weekend’s results snuffed out the lingering faint hope and the ‘Well will be a bottom six side this season.
The wild celebrations that followed Ricki Lamie’s injury time winner against Livingston a year ago are a fond memory but there will be no such fairytale ending to season 2022/23.
9 April 2022
Talk of sneaking over the split line would have been madness in mid-February with the team in 11th place and reeling from an embarrassing cup exit. Few of the claret and amber faithful would have believed that a run of five wins from the next eight fixtures was possible.
But with spirits raised it was a disappointment to see the team underperform against Dundee United. Gone was the energetic swarming to regain possession and instead an inability to hold the lead cost the match. United were more the determined and we failed to match them.
After the upcoming trip to Parkhead Motherwell will have played 16 at home and 17 away. In theory that should result in three of the final five games taking place at Fir Park. That may not be to our advantage as a league table based on away fixture has Motherwell in third place.
We can expect visits from Ross County and Kilmarnock and trips to Tannadice and McDiarmid Park. Opponents for game five will be known around 5pm on Saturday as Livingston, Hibs and St Mirren scrap it out.
There is a widely held view that Motherwell’s buffer above the drop zone should keep them from danger but such talk will be far from the message that Stuart Kettlewell will be spreading in inside Fir Park.
Best of the rest is the target now.