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Andy McGilvray

Celtic can bear brunt of Hearts frustration, says Motherwell boss Steven Hammell

Steven Hammell has urged his side to take their frustration out on Celtic, after losing 3-2 at Hearts on Sunday.

And the Fir Park gaffer says while his side will need to be “almost perfect” to beat Celtic, the Scottish champions do have weaknesses.

The Steelmen were 2-0 down to Heart thanks to an Andy Halliday double 55 minutes into the game at Tynecastle, despite the hosts being down to 10 men in 38 minutes when Jorge Grant saw red for a lunge on Callum Slattery.

A Louis Moult penalty and a strike by Blair Spittal pulled the score back to 2-2, only for Lawrence Shankland to net a late penalty winner.

Hammell said: “It’s maybe a little bit more difficult to find goals and weaknesses and places to expose them – that’s a team that has been playing in the Champions League this season.

“But in the games we’ve played [against Celtic] there have been good moments within those games.

“They maybe come around few and far between, in terms of the other opposition you play on a weekly basis, but it’s a challenge we should be embracing and should be something we’re looking forward to.

“Really taking the energy and frustration from the weekend and putting that into a positive performance.

“We still believe we had enough in that game, especially the way it played out, to win the game.

Blair Spittal equalised for Motherwell at Hearts, only for the Jambos to find a late winner (SNS Group)

“It’s a game we’re still disappointed in, that we’ll learn from, and we’ll be better for it.”

Hammell reiterated that his side will need to be on top form to beat Celtic, but believes it can be done.

He said: “Like any other game, were going to do our best to win, the same as any other game we’ve approached this season.

“It’s up to us to come up with a game-plan to try and cause them as many problems as we can.

“Individually we’ll need to be very good, we’ll need to be strong, and as a group we’ll need to have a good game.

“The people coming off the bench, the staff, everyone involved will need to do well for us to get a positive result.

“You need to be almost perfect on the day, hope the luck and the decisions go your way, you have players playing as close to their maximum as possible.”

One player who is unlikely to play is right-back Paul McGinn, who limped off early in Sunday’s defeat and was replaced by Stephen O’Donnell.

Hammell says everyone needs to be at their best when Celtic visit this evening (SNS Group)

Hammell says they’re waiting to see the full extent of the injury but he joins an already extensive list.

He said: “Unfortunately Paul McGinn has a bad one. It’s going to be a big loss for us as well, he has been excellent for us this season.

“He got a scan yesterday (Monday) and we’ll probably find out exactly where he’s at this morning, but that’s another one that is disappointing and will make us a little bit weaker as well.

“Stevie has been excellent for us, the only reason he’s not been playing is because of how well Paul McGinn has been playing – that’s pretty much it.

“You could argue that our two full-backs have been really consistent, they’ve been two of our best performers this season.”

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