STUART KETTLEWELL has dismissed the notion that Motherwell’s game against Livingston on Saturday will have any bearing on how their season pans out, saying that talk of the match being a relegation six-pointer is ‘all fluff’.
The Fir Park side sit second-bottom of the Premiership and go into the game against the only team below them in the standings on the back of a 15-match winless streak. Livingston themselves haven’t won in 11, but would move to within a point of Motherwell if they were to come out on top at the weekend.
Kettlewell though says that his players have been trying their utmost to win every single game they have contested this season, and that he doesn’t place any more importance upon this fixture, despite the predicament his team currently find themselves in.
"I don't buy into that,” Kettlewell said.
“It's the next game of football and it so happens it's against the team at the bottom of the league against the team at second bottom.
"I take it as seriously as I have done with every game this season. If we get a victory it puts a little more daylight between Livingston and ourselves, and it would push us closer to the teams sitting above us.
"Also, you are looking for a catalyst to set the heather alight and to take us on some sort of run. We know what it's like, as it was, sitting joint bottom of the table almost this time last year and we got ourselves out of the position by units and individuals performing really well.
"It's about executing the game plan, being a threat on the front foot and also being really mean on what we give up defensively.
"For Livingston, they will be looking at coming here and getting a result which can close the gap on us.
“I think that's all fluff [talk of six-pointers]. It's a big game of football, but so was Rangers and St Mirren the week before that.
“If I go back to myself as a player, I wanted to play in the most meaningful games, but they come week in, week out in this league. Every one of them is incredibly competitive and brings a different challenge.
"If people want to say this is the biggest game of the season and it means everything, then fine, but I would argue that what happens on Saturday will not have a direct bearing on what happens in May. But it can have an impact on what comes in the coming weeks, in terms of building momentum.
"Nobody gets relegated off this game of football on Saturday. Nobody wins a title or a trophy, but it's a chance to get ourselves moving in the correct direction."
It may have been thought that Motherwell’s game against Aberdeen being postponed in midweek would be help Kettlewell’s squad be in a better place physically ahead of the Livingston test, but while the long - if ultimately pointless - trip may have been beneficial from a team bonding perspective, the inclement weather meant that travelling took its toll on some.
When asked if the experience could prove beneficial for team spirit, Kettlewell said: “No, not when half the bus are seasick with it swaying from side to side in that wind!
“It wasn’t a great experience, I have to say. I think a lot of people were just trying to keep their head down and not focus on anything too hard, because it was a difficult one.
“We genuinely had one or two coming off the bus looking a little bit green, especially going up. Coming back wasn’t quite as bad, but going up was a wee bit of a challenge.
“But I always think that those moments can help, whether that is spending time together in pre-season, going to a hotel together or spending time on a bus, I always do think that it helps.
“Equal to that, spending time together at the football club or on the pitch are arguably the most important things that you’ll have.
“But the one thing I can tell you is that the harmony in our dressing room and the togetherness with this group of players – how they get on with each other, how they trust each other, how they behave in each other’s company – that’s never been a problem or a question.
“The one thing I do know one hundred percent is that they are with myself and the staff, I know one hundred percent there is that backing from them.
“But of course, that feels even better and puts us in an even better position if we can go and get a result, and then it gives you something to move towards, whether that be trying to get yourself on an extended run, amassing as many points as you can, or personal goals.
“Without the bus journey or the run we find ourselves on, I can tell you that the unity in this place is pretty remarkable considering where we find ourselves.
“But what we would like to do is put on three points to that as quick as we possibly can, and then that gives you a chance to kick on.”
