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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Celtic will be tough but we'll do everything we can to win cup clash, says Well boss

Stevie Hammell says Motherwell will do everything they can to knock Celtic out of the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, and revealed that top-team stars will be given every chance to prove their fitness ahead of tomorrow night's Fir Park showdown.

Hammell knows his side will need to be on the very top of their game if they are to reach the League Cup semi-finals.

But he says this is a home clash for Motherwell against Ange Postecoglou's men, and they intend to take the game to the cup-holders.

Hammell said: "Tomorrow it's a cup game, it's a one-off, we want to give absolutely everything we've got in that game, and then take the weekend [at home to Aberdeen] when that comes.

"Silverware is the dream, isn't it? That's something for the club, it will happen for the club, I'm sure one day hopefully soon, very soon, but that would be presumptuous and looking forward.

"We're concentrating on this. If we can get through this game, which is as tough as it gets, then that's what we want. That's what every Motherwell fan wants, myself included.

"We need to focus on how we hurt them and how we progress within the match. That's something we've been working on every day, almost.

"This is our home game, we want to treat it like that, and we want it to be different from the game that we played them at Celtic Park. It's going to be difficult, but we don't want to be overly focused on what they do and what they bring, our biggest focus is on us and how we conduct ourselves within the match."

Hammell says his side have received plaudits, but want to start picking up points and wins to go with those.

He said: "This season we've ran everybody close. The results that haven't gone our way we've been close.

Hammell says they won't focus on what Celtic can do, but how they can hurt the cup-holders (SNS Group)

"We want to do more than that. We don't want to run teams close and say 'oh well, we played well but we're getting closer'.

"We want to go that one step further and how we do that. a lot of it is the work we're doing every day, the belief within the squad, personnel and the starting 11, and hopefully the fans get right behind us tomorrow, which will play a big factor in helping us to achieve that.

"There has been some good stuff. The last two results haven't been what we wanted. Away to Hibs we lose 1-0, we play most of the game or almost half of the game with 10 men. We lost 2-1 to Rangers, a team in the Champions League, we've got five starters missing.

"We had three 16 year olds warming up to come on the pitch and you see the changes they make - they're bringing on three fully-fledged international players, options coming on that don't start in their team.

"That's what we're competing against, and we're OK with that, it's just understanding where we're at, how we need to progress and get better, and taking that one step further.

Hammell says Motherwell pushed Rangers close, but would prefer points to plaudits (SNS Group)

"It's going to be difficult, it's going to be a challenge, but it's one we're going to be up for.

"Anything worth achieving is going to be difficult, so we're fully aware of it, we're prepared for it, and we'll give it absolutely everything that we've got.

"It's as tough as it gets. You're playing against a team that's high quality, well coached, they've got a certain style that they play that's difficult to coach and understand, so it shows you where they're at, but it's what we do, how we bring the best version of us to the game, and that will give us the best chance, going forward.

"We need everyone, individually, to be strong, and be at a high level. Us as well, myself included and staff, the fans onside and bringing the noise for us. All of these things will need to contribute to us getting a positive result."

Several stars, including Ricki Lamie, will be given every chance to prove their fitness (SNS Group)

Several players are carrying knocks, including Ricki Lamie, and Hammell says he hopes for good news on that front.

He said: "We're hoping. We've got a couple of late decisions. The Rangers match we were going in there absolute bare bones, with five starters missing, which makes a big impact on the game and what we can do in the second half, and later in the game.

"We're hoping that either today or early tomorrow we'll find out and hopefully there will be more positive news, in terms of personnel."

Hammell was promoting Premier Sports live and exclusive coverage of Motherwell v Celtic on Wednesday 19th October from 6.00pm. Premier Sports is available from £9.99 per month and is available on the following platforms – Sky, Virgin, Amazon Prime and the Premier Player.

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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