Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says his side’s 1-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice will give them a confidence boost ahead of the Viaplay Cup.
Kettlewell felt the hastily-arranged closed doors game – which came about after both sides ended up without a fixture elsewhere – saw Motherwell looking fitter and stronger.
It was also won by new signing Conor Wilkinson’s 36th-minute strike.
Lennon Miller slid into a tackle to win possession, Callum Slattery picked it up and drove forward before feeding Blair Spittal, who found Wilkinson to smash a shot high into the net.
That was the Steelmen’s last pre-season action ahead of their Viaplay Cup Group G opener at Elgin City on Saturday, and Kettlewell was pleased.
He told the club’s website: “It was good to get to Tannadice and almost play a proper game.
“It gets us closer to what we want. In terms of the performance level, we went stages up from where we were on Saturday, and that’s pleasing.
“I thought we looked fitter, we looked stronger, our organisation against the ball was really good.
“Then we started to create chances and started to create some of the football that I believe we can.
“That gives me a great deal of confidence and I think it gives the players a degree of confidence, going into Saturday.
“It didn’t really feel like a pre-season friendly, I thought it was a competitive match.
“It definitely takes us to a stage in the game where there are serious questions asked of us, and we have to be good in every facet of what we do.”
Motherwell’s players only enjoyed a couple of weeks off before a training camp in Holland and a handful of games to prepare them for their group stages games, which also see them visit Queen of the South on Tuesday before back-to-back home games against Queen’s Park and East Fife.
He said: “I’m always one for looking at the positive side of it [that is] you’re not chasing fitness, it has been a two or three week reset for us.
“The guys are in good shape when they come in, it’s almost trying to fine-tune it.
“Some of the players haven’t worked with me and we’ve obviously got one brand new signing in Conor Wilkinson.
“It gives us an opportunity to make sure the message is getting across and they understand how we want to play.
“For the likes of Conor, he brings his undoubted quality to what we’ve already got.”
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