12.20pm

In today's local press, Terry Butcher has called on his side to be more ruthless in front of goal after dropping two points at home to Dundee last week:
"To be honest, I’m not really happy with the point because I think we should have had all three.  We created plenty of chances, especially in the second-half, but a combination of poor finishing, good goalkeeping and poor passing when we got into good situations meant Dundee went home with a point.  Our approach play was good , but we have to be more ruthless in front of goal if we’re going to win games.  Overall, I was happy with the performance from the players in general, especially after suffering back-to-back defeats, but unhappy that we only took a single point from a game we really should have won."

"One of the positives you can take out of the Dundee game was the fact we never panicked, despite going a goal down early on.  We still went about our business and I think we sent the home supporters home fairly pleased.  However, if you look at the games we have played at home so far then our only victory has come when we’ve actually took the lead and not been behind in the match.  I think if we could go in front against Aberdeen on Saturday then it would be a different story as we wouldn’t have to chase the game so much and it would give us something to build on."

Butcher is hoping the Aberdeen players will be tired after their midweek trip to face Hertha Berlin in the UEFA Cup:
"Obviously, I’m hopeful they’ll be feeling it a bit, but they had a very impressive victory over Dunfermline last Saturday, so we know we’re going to have our work cut out.  They are a top quality side and have a good mix of young and experienced players, but we beat them at home last season and if we can create as many chances as we did against Dundee then we’ve got to have a chance.  The players love playing in front of their own fans and are desperate to do well at home, so hopefully we can give them something to shout about with a win over Aberdeen."

Saturday's fixture will see former 'Well player Eric Deloumeaux return to Fir Park for the first time since his summer move to Pittodrie, and Butcher added:
"It’s going to be good to see Eric again as this will be his first game back at Motherwell since leaving us. Hopefully, he’ll enjoy it, but I just hopes he’s the one who’s disappointed at the final whistle and not me!"

On the injury front, Scott Leitch and Daniel Sengewald are expected to be back for the game.  Khaled Kemas is two weeks away from getting back into full training.

Meanwhile, Terry Butcher wasn't too disappointed with the league cup draw which will see us face Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Oct 23rd:
"We’re used to playing away from home by now, so we’ll just go up there and give it our all.  It’s certainly not impossible for us to win the game and just to make the third round is pleasing, especially after the poor cup runs of the last few seasons."

Time for a new opinion poll!

Can Motherwell avoid the drop this season?