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Daily Record
Sport
Paul Thomson

Celtic tie so tough but Motherwell will "give their all" to dump holders out in quarter-finals, says Steven Hammell

Motherwell boss Steven Hammell says his side will give it their all to try and oust holders Celtic from the competition in next month's Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals.

The Steelmen have been handed a home tie with the Hoops after a Kevin van Veen hat-trick and a Danny Devine own goal saw them ease past Inverness in tonight's last 16 clash.

Hammell knows his side face a tall order to reach a Hampden semi-final but insisted if they want to do well in the competition, they'll need to take some scalps.

"We've said if we want to be successful in this tournament - which we do - you need to play some good teams - which we are," he told BBC Radio Scotland.

"We've got a lot to do between now and then but when the time comes we will be ready.

"It means so much to the staff, the fans and the club as a whole to do well in the cup competitions and, of course, it is tough but we will need to give it our all."

Hammell was delighted with the performance from his side as they bounced back from Saturday's 2-1 Scottish Premiership defeat at Kilmarnock.

It was also a big night for teenager Lennon Miller as the Coltness High School pupil made his senior debut at the age of just 16 - becoming the club's youngest-ever player.

But Dutchman van Veen was the man of the moment, netting two penalties and opening the scoring with a fine strike inside 10 minutes.

And Hammell added: "He [van Veen] is in a good place just now.

"He needs to continue to score goals. He had another couple of opportunities tonight that I think he could have done better with, but when you see him standing over a penalty you always fancy him.

"I was happy with what we did tonight.

"It was a real potential banana skin for us and I thought we dealt with it really well, played with a bit of style and confidence.

"It was joy to watch.

"Before the game we would have taken any way to get through the tie, but to do it in such a style is pleasing to see."

There was also a debut for left-back Matt Penney following his loan move from Ipswich Town and asked if was set to add to his squad further before tomorrow's transfer window closes at midnight, Hammell added: "The plan is to be active tomorrow and we'll see how that goes.

"We've got a competitive squad at the moment. The plan was to add to it so we'll see how that goes."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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