Motherwell kick off for the fifth time in a fortnight when Livingston visit Fir Park on Saturday.
The vistors were spared a midweek game and David Martindale will have taken careful note of the ‘Well as they fought out the goalless evening in Falkirk. When speaking to the media after the final whistle John McGlynn made it known that his game plan centered on cancelling Motherwell “because they're a very good team, pass the ball well and have some great rotations and movements.” No doubt we can expect a similar outlook from Livingston this weekend.
The West Lothian side is struggling at the foot of the table with a only third of the season gone. They had a win against Falkirk in August before embarking on a dozen league matches without a win. Despite their awful run their manager has kept the team fighting. Aberdeen needed a late goal to beat them on Sunday and ‘Well fans who travelled to Livingston in October will remember that we needed Eli Just to produce a beauty in added time to win that clash.
Motherwell held on to third place on Wednesday with the draw that stretched the unbeaten series to seven. The back to back goalless affairs points to a lack of sharpness in forward areas but the other side of the coin comes with the third straight clean sheet.
Jens Berthel Askou has been making full use of his squad of late. The last three games have come with five, four and three changes to his starting eleven. The busy schedule will have influenced his thinking but the quality of players available to him beyond the ‘top’ eleven has enabled him to keep legs fresh.
With only a couple of days to recover after the visit to Falkirk’s artificial surface we can expect more rotation on Saturday. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has not started in the last four and he will be hoping for a return. Tawanda Maswanhise be available for the Livi game and the Tannadice trip next week before he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Motherwell fans have a tradition of fearing those games that have us as overwhelming favourites especially with the opposition looking to end a dismal run. Nevertheless, a home win is likely and with the help of a fourth clean sheet a 2-0 success may be on the cards.
