Stuart Kettlewell says Motherwell’s draw with champions Celtic has fired them up to reach the Premiership top six next season.
But the Fir Park boss says the fact that there is so much to play for at this stage of the season is a great advert for Scottish football.
Attention will turn to the Championship on Friday with the title, play-offs and relegation to be decided on the final day, before the Premiership regains centre stage on Saturday, with Kilmarmock visiting in the first post-split fixture.
Both sides have very different targets, with Motherwell looking at Livingston in seventh place, while Killie are still fighting for survival.
Kettlewell said: “It certainly whets the appetite when you go and play at these big venues, against top players and managers.
“I think you want that feeling, you want that for the last five games, but that’s never a disrespect to the rest of the teams in the league.
“Irrespective of top six, bottom six, every one of us wants to be in the top six – of course we do.
“But there’s those bits of added motivation, and I think getting a taste for going and performing so well at Celtic Park, you want more of that, undoubtedly.”
Kettlewell is delighted that Motherwell are more of less out of trouble, but says they must build on it.
He said: “I think what we’ve done is put ourselves in a better position than we were, but I think you’ve got to embrace and look forward to the last five games.
“I think at times we can be apprehensive, start to worry, there are sleepless nights and all the rest of it, and I don’t really buy into that, to be honest.
“I think we’re privileged to be involved in sport and in football in this country, when there are so many things and so many possible outcomes.
“There are teams fighting relegation, trying to win leagues, etc, and it’s all teed up for the Championship on Friday. I think we’ll all be excited to see how that unfolds.
“I think for us it’s about looking forward to the last five games that we’ve got. It’s all mapped out who we’ll play and where, and I’m not really looking too far ahead to the last one or the one in the middle, I’m really focused on Kilmarnock.
“But I think it’s a pretty decent advert for our game, how much is still at stake across the divisions.
“You want to make sure you’re on the right side of it, that you get out of it what you’re looking for.
“It’s an exciting couple of weeks for us, and we’re looking to amass as many points as we possibly can.”
Kettlewell says there are doubts over Dean Cornelius, Harry Paton and Ross Tierney, but striker Job Obika is back running and training on the pitch.
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