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2.30pm
James McFadden has been called up to the full Scotland squad for the friendly against Austria next
week. Both Stevie Hammell and Stephen Pearson retain their places in the Under-21 squad.
11.45am
Following the narrow semi-final defeat to Rangers at Hampden, Terry Butcher has called on his players
to take their cup form into the league, starting with the crunch match at Partick on Saturday:
"After the game against Rangers on Saturday I told all the boys in the dressing room that I was proud of their performance.
Everyone played their part and I know the players gave our supporters a great day out to remember, even if we didn’t give them quite the result they wanted, or the one we thought it would be possible to achieve at half-time.
However, they gave it everything and that’s all anyone could ask from them.
But it’s over now and we have six massive games coming up starting with Partick Thistle.
I suppose the good thing is that out of our six remaining league games four of them are in front of our own supporters at Fir Park which is a positive from our point of view.
Unfortunately over recent games we’ve been poor playing at home and away and that’s got to be sorted out as quickly as possible.
The simple fact is we have to start winning games and getting results, but if we can take the positives from Saturday into our remaining league fixtures then we should start to pick up some points."
TB was full of praise for his young players, especially for the way they rallied after going a goal
behind so early on:
"Losing the early goal was a blow, but there wasn’t much I could do about it sitting on the bench.
However, the boys responded well and rolled their sleeves up even more. It seemed to fire them up.
Steven scored a fantastic goal which brought us back into the game and I was delighted for him, especially when you consider he didn’t have a club a few months ago.
Then James popped up to put us in the lead with a great goal. He was quiet in the second-half, but still put on a tremendous performance.
Indeed, all the boys played well and it wasn’t just about one man. Everyone contributed and we really gave it a go. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough."
Butcher also insisted that David Clarkson's miss just before half-time was not the turning point of
the game:
"I was quite adamant afterwards when speaking to the press that the game didn’t turn on David’s miss.
I felt Rangers second goal was the turning point as this gave them a real lift when they needed it, but I certainly wouldn’t blame David as he’s only 17.
It was just unfortunate that he couldn’t cap an excellent display with a goal."
TB also thought that Motherwell had a good penalty claim turned down by referee Mike McCurry
when James McFadden went down in the box in the second-half:
"At the end of the day it was the referee’s decision, but from where I was I thought it was a penalty.
I’ve not seen the incident again on TV. However, James had cut in between the two Rangers players and was making his way towards goal, so what reason did he have to go down?
"There were several curious decisions from Mr McCurry, especially in the second-half.
The free-kick which set up Rangers third goal was a bit harsh and other decisions didn’t go our way, but we also played a part in our own downfall as Tony Vaughan, who was meant to be marking Amoruso, slipped."
Hampden Man of the Match Stephen Pearson added:
"It was a great day out for everyone connected to the club, but it’s over now and we’ve got vital league games to focus on now.
We’ve got six massive games coming up so we have to turn our attention to them and I’m sure this performance will spur us on.
I thought everyone was magnificent and we can only take positives from that. Hopefully, we can carry them into the league.
We’ve beaten everybody in the top six, but we’ve struggled against teams lower down in the league, so we’ll have to rectify that in the next six games and pick up the points to get away from the bottom of the league.
It’s a massive game against Partick and then we have Dundee Utd after that so hopefully we can pick up some points."
For the match at Firhill, Motherwell have no new injury worries although both Pearson
and Keith Lasley are suspended.
The Under-21s defeated their Dundee counterparts 5-3 at Fir Park on Monday night, with goals from
Lehmann (2), Clarke (2) and McDonald.
Team: Woods, Ramsey, Crawley, MacDonald, Cowan, Kinniburgh, Lasley, Barkey, Lehmann, Offiong, Clarke.
Subs not used: Ewings, Higgins, Black, Scott and Fitzpatrick
Former Motherwell loan player Steven Ferguson has been released by Spurs, although with Stevie Craig
in such good form it seems unlikely we will make a move for him.
After being taken off at Hampden with a suspected broken wrist, Steven Hammell says he will be ok to
face Partick Thistle on Saturday:
"There is nothing broken, although it has swollen up like a balloon.
I have to try to get that down before Saturday but I am confident it will be OK and
I want to play as its a massive game for the club."
David Clarkson has been pulled out of this week's Scotland Under-19 games by Terry Butcher, although
Motherwell will still be represented by Paul Quinn and Kenny Wright.
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