Stevie Hammell says Motherwell will have to be at their best to beat Dundee United tomorrow, but it’s important to get back to winning games and climbing the Premiership.
The Steelmen last took three points when they beat Ross County in Dingwall on October 4, and since then they’ve lost four in a row – albeit, against Celtic, Rangers, Hibs and Aberdeen.
Hammell’s side follow up their trip to Tannadice with a visit to Hearts, before hosting Celtic and travelling to St Johnstone on November 12, ahead of the Qatar World Cup, and the Motherwell boss is keen to get points on the board.
He said: “We’re fully aware, I’m fully aware and the team are fully aware of how big a game it is for us,” said Hammell.
“It is massively important to get back to winning ways – it always is, regardless of the personnel, fixtures or the opposition – especially after that last week, playing some good teams, games coming thick and fast, and results weren’t what we wanted.
“With the squad issues and the personnel, we’re taking it one game at a time.
“But between now and the World Cup we’ve still got three or four tough fixtures in there.
“We’re attacking this one, we’re putting everything we’ve got into this one, and then we’ll see what the next game brings.
“But in every single game we play, it’s vitally important we turn up, we be as close to our best as we possibly can be.
“We’ve had a good week’s prep for it, and we’re ready to go.”
The start of a frustrating period of games in which Motherwell haven’t taken enough of their chances, resulting in draws and defeats, started with a 0-0 draw at home to Dundee United on September 3, and Hammell says they have to be better this time around.
He says that game, in which they dominated but didn't score, sums up their season so far.
“By no means can we turn up and put on a similar performance, expecting the game to have a similar outcome,” said Hammell.
“We need to be ready for them. I think they’ve improved since then, and we need to be at our best.
“They have good options individually, the have a lot of talent within their squad, and real options, especially at the top end of the pitch.
“But it’s just another chance for us to go out and win the game, that’s how we’re approaching it.”
Hammell felt Motherwell deserved to take at least a point from their 2-1 defeat against Aberdeen, but acknowledged their poor start in that game will cost them if it’s repeated at Tannadice.
He said: “I felt in the first half we weren’t near our best. We’ve looked at it again, but in the second half I thought we really did deserve to take at least a point out of the game.
“We take confidence from that, but also guarding against our first-half performance, which wasn’t good enough – especially the early stages.
“We improved as we went, but we’re going to need to be at that level, at least, tomorrow.”
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.
