7.25pm

Today's result: Hearts 4, Motherwell 1.

We slumped back to 11th in the table following a heavy defeat at Tynecastle this afternoon.  The home side were missing key players and struggling for form, and while they were far from impressive for long periods of the game they still had more than enough quality to turn us over easily.

There was just one change to the side which won in Inverness last week, with Martyn Corrigan replacing the injured Keith Lasley in midfield.

Hearts started the game brightly, and took the lead after only 9 mins when Quinn was caught ball watching, and McCann took advantage to setup Fyssas who fired low beyond Meldrum.  We equalised against the run of play after 20 mins when Foran prodded home Clarkson's low cross, and although we came into the game a bit more after this we were still grateful to go in at the break on level terms.

The second half was all Hearts, and they regained the lead when a soft free kick was headed past his own goalkeeper by Paul Quinn.  With our midfield unable to keep possession of the ball for any length of time, it was no surprise when the home side went 3-1 up after 57 mins when Velicka lobbed Meldrum after being played in by a long punt over the centre of our defence.  Hearts added a fourth courtesy of a Aguiar free kick after 63 minutes, and McCann missed a great chance to make it five shortly afterwards.

I have to emphasise that I didn't think Hearts were all that wonderful today, but we made them look good by our inability to keep possession.  Our midfield without Keith Lasley is not a pretty sight at all, and our wide players in particular not only made little impact going forward but also provided next to no cover for their full backs.  Upfront we were powder puff, and quite what David Clarkson contributes to the team I will never know.

I sincerely hope we'll be bringing in a number of new players in January, as we simply aren't good enough at this minute in time.

Oh well, at least I only paid a tenner for my ticket :)

One final thing.  Hearts completely outplayed us in the second half and thoroughly deserved their win, but some of their diving today was a disgrace.

Team (4-4-2): Meldrum, Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Paterson, McGarry, Corrigan (Darren Lee Smith 80), Kerr, (Fitzpatrick 69), Foran, Clarkson, McDonald. 
Subs Not Used: Smith, McCormack, Kinniburgh, Connolly, Coakley.

Scorer: Foran (20).

Booked: Quinn, Paterson.

Attendance: 16,753.

After the match, Maurice Malpas hit out at the referee over the award of the free kick that lead to Hearts' second goal:
"I'll probably get into trouble with for this but I thought the ref did well for them for the second goal.  I didn't think it was a foul and to make it worse he compounds his error by booking Paul Quinn and that's him suspended now.  We lost a goal straight after that so it was difficult at 3-1."

However, MM also criticised his players for their overall display:
"I'm disappointed with our performance.  I was expecting better than that.  It seems to sum up our season. We have two or three right good performances and victories and then we struggle and I thought we struggled today.  The way we went about our business for the first 15 minutes of the second half did the damage."

The draw for the third round of the Scottish Cup took place today, and Motherwell will travel to take on Airdrie in a Lanarkshire derby on Saturday, January 6.

It's been confirmed that Keith Lasley will miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate knee injury against Inverness last week.  This is a massive blow, as Keith virtually IS our midfield at the moment, and if he hasn't done so already then MM should be contacting Preston North End with a view to signing Alan McCormack.

Malpas' response to the new was as follows:
"This is a big blow for the player and the club. We were shocked to get this result as early tests showed medial problems, but the specialist last night discovered cruciate problems.  We did feat it was serious as Keith is not one of those players who goes down for no reason.  It's a big loss for the side as he had struck up a good partnership with Brian Kerr.  We will now definitely need to bring in a central midfield player in the transfer window, but it will have to be someone who will make a difference not just someone to fill the space.

"This is now five long term cruciate ligaments that we have had in the last two seasons, following McBride, Kerr, Corrigan and McLean. We must be really unlucky as this is on top of Achilles injuries for Leitch and O'Donnell at the same time."

Richie Baker WON'T be signing for us following his recent trial period, as apparently he believes Shelbourne are a bigger club than Motherwell and doesn't want to take a step down.

Maurice Malpas spoke this week of the situation regarding Calum Elliot, after it was reported the striker wanted to return to Hearts at the end of his loan period in January:
"We have been unable to talk to anyone at Hearts to discuss the way ahead with Calum.   Therefore we will plan to meet with them on Saturday after the game at Tynecastle.  He is a Hearts player and they always said they would decide in January what the next step would be, but the door is open for him to stay at Fir Park.

"If he can't go back he will be happy to stay as he feels he has learned a lot from his time here and he has also enjoyed.  Having said that he is still a Hearts player and ultimately it is their decision."

The reserves lost 1-0 at Easter Road during the week.  Team:
G Smith, Corrigan, Nixon, Connolly, Donnelly (Murray), Kinniburgh, McCormack, Fitzpatrick, Elliot, Coakley, D. Smith. 
Subs: Martin, Forbes, Sideserf, Murphy.