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6.40pm

What on earth is going on?  We moved up to FOURTH in the league today with an impressive 1-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park.  This was our FOURTH away win (and clean sheet) of the season, and we have now lost only one out of our last NINE matches.  With this Ferrero Roche you are really spoiling us!

Terry Butcher fielded the same starting eleven for the seventh consecutive game, with recent injury victim Alex Burns taking a place on the bench.  Jason Dair was not named among the substitutes after picking up a groin injury last week.

In a game of few clear cut chances, Motherwell had the better of the first half with Craig and Clarkson looking lively upfront.  We enjoyed long spells of possession, but failed to force Dundee goalkeeper Speroni into action on too many occasions.  In fact, it was the home side who probably had the best opportunity of the first half when Ravanelli sent a free header over the bar from only a few yards out.

The breakthrough came six minutes after the interval, when Clarkson crossed for his strike partner Craig to flick the ball into the corner of the net for his second goal in as many games.  From then on it was a backs to the wall job as we defended our lead, while always looking dangerous on the break.  Our defending in the second half was excellent, and I don't recall Gordon Marshall being called upon to produce many heroics.  In the end we held on through a ridiculous amount of stoppage time for a thoroughly deserved win.

Although this probably wasn't one of our better performances of late, we were still easily the more hungry and determined side and the win was more than justified.  Our back four were outstanding throughout, and we restricted a very attack-minded Dundee side to very few goalscoring opportunities.  Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness was in the stand today to watch Stephen Pearson, although it has to be said that Pearo had one of his quieter games today.

Perhaps I shouldn't be tempting fate, but after the break for the Scotland v Holland matches we have a run of winable games coming up, most of which are at home.  Is it possible that this 'Well side can sustain their superb current form and maybe take us even higher up the league?

Team: Marshall, Corrigan, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, Lasley, Adams, Leitch, Pearson, Craig, Clarkson (Burns 71).
Subs not used: Corr, Quinn, McDonald, Wright.

Booked: Lasley.

Crowd: 6,374.

Terry Butcher praised his match winner after the game:
"I'm really happy for Steven Craig because he was discarded earlier this year and came to us.  He was unfit towards the end of last season but worked his socks off and got his chance when Alex Burns went out injured.  This team has played together for seven games on the trot and you can see that in the way they're playing."

"If you're going to go away from home and win games, you don't often care about the quality. It's the result that matters.  We could've scored more goals on the break because Dundee pegged us back but we didn't pass the ball well enough.  We had to defend very well and did that as a team, it wasn't pretty or the best of games but we'll take that any day.  I told the players before the game that we could go above Dundee if we win and they responded to that.  We play as a team and showed a great spirit."

Stephen Pearson has been called into the full Scotland squad for the upcoming Euro 2004 play-offs against Holland, although when he heard the news Pearo thought it was a wind-up!  He said:
"This is unbelievable news and I'm absolutely delighted.  At first I thought Steven was playing a joke on me and having a laugh. He broke the news that I was in the squad but I refused to believe him.  It wasn't until I went home and checked the squad announcement that I knew it was for real.  I was expecting a call-up to the Under-21 squad for the play-off against Croatia but to be called up for two such vital matches is the ultimate honour.  This caps a magnificent season for me and it's a wonderful feeling."

And still on the subject of Pearo, many of yesterday's newspapers reported that Celtic are favourites to sign him in January, possibly for a fee of around £300,000.  A whole host of clubs from England are also reported to be interested, but Terry Butcher is still hopeful that Pearson will sign a new contract at Fir Park:
"He knows how we feel and we know how he feels and it is really a case of knuckling down and doing well for Motherwell.  It's an important time in his life, but he doesn't need any unnecessary distractions and I want him to just concentrate on playing well for Motherwell.  He will move if clubs are really interested in him, but, at the same time, we would obviously like him to stay here and play for us.  We can still have a say if he does go to another club in January, but it's up to Stephen.  If he does continue to play the way he is doing, which I hope he does, then hopefully we can fend off a lot of clubs."

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