Motherwell
will host Aberdeen at Fir Park on Sunday for the first of a four day league and
cup double header.
This fixture
was pushed back a day as both clubs anticipated some useful recovery time after
a round of midweek games. The relentless
downpours in the north east have made a mockery of the plan. This will be the Dons first outing in a
fortnight and both sides will now have a two day interval before the Pittodrie cup
tie on Wednesday.
Motherwell once
again demonstrated their commitment to the Jens Berthel Askou style of
football when they faced Rangers. The
loss of an early goal was brushed aside as waves of claret and amber poured
into the visitors’ half. It took a while
but the reward finally came when Stephen Welsh finding the net at the death.
Elliot Watt
was restored to the starting eleven after an injury spell out. A planned half-time swap with Oscar Priestman
should protect the star midfielder and assuming no ill effect he may soon be
back to full capacity. Regan
Charles-Cook also returned to the fray and he will give the manager another
attacking option.
The
addition of Eythor Bjorgolfsson has already paid a dividend as his knock down
header in the 88th minute gave Welsh the point winning opportunity.
Lukaf
Fadinger’s misjudgement will force him to spectate on Sunday and he will be
joined by Johnny Koutroumbis as he recovers from a calf injury.
After a
fortnight without a competitive game any prediction of Aberdeen’s form will be
uncertain. Their 6-2 demolition of
Livingston gave them a first league win in seven attempts and they followed
that with a 3-0 loss at Rugby Park. Fans
in the Granite City are not happy.
Motherwell have
the upper hand in the three earlier contests with two wins and a draw and that
includes a League Cup knockout at Pittodrie.
There’s no surprise to Motherwell
as heavy odds-on favourites and it would be an upset to see anything other than
another win for the Mighty ‘Well, 2-0.
