McCall was delighted at both the win and the way the players performed. He felt that we always carried a threat on the break and his counterpart on the Kilmarnock bench agreed. Shiels said, “they played on the counter attack as we expected but they have better forwards than us”.
Murphy received plenty of praise from his manager, "I'm really pleased for that kid, he's a cracking lad and is totally committed to do his best for Motherwell. I was hoping Jamie would come back from his summer break fresh and energised and that has been exactly the case. We tried him out in a different position today behind Henrik and Higgy. It worked well and he got two terrific goals.”
The only cloud that hung over the win was the injury to Ramsden. He had to leave the pitch in the first half with a hamstring pull and he will not be considered for the game later this week. Law and Humphrey were also substituted but the manager was confident that they will not be sidelined.
The bonus was that the replacements played well. For the final twenty minutes we had eight players aged 21 and under. In Fancis-Angol(19) we seem to have found a confident forward going left back. He made his mark right from the start and seemed to relish the opportunity to get 90 minutes game time.
Cummins(19) fitted will into the central defensive line and Hetherington(19) built on his half hour against St Johnstone last week with another 20 minutes of first team action. Kerr(19) completed his loan move from Birmingham last week and filled in at an unaccustomed position when he replaced Humphrey. He almost got his name on the score sheet with late effort that had the ‘Well support off their seats.
McCall said that he had not yet given the upcoming game against Levante much thought. Kenny Black and Bobby Jenks have been handed the tiresome job of watching our Europa League opponents face Atletico Madrid in the first round of the Spanish league. That game takes place on Sunday (10pm kick off UK time).
We have the prospect of another great night under the floodlights on Thursday. The aim will be secure a result that gives us “something to hold on to” in the second leg.
Come on ye ‘Well!
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