Kevin van Veen scored his 20th goal of the season in the 3-1 Premiership win over Hibs last weekend and immediately targeted 10 more before the end of the campaign.
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell has absolutely no problem with the Dutchman declaring his ambitious target, and wishes more strikers would.
Kettlewell says there’s too much of a culture of players being afraid of being mocked if they don’t hit those targets, and says neither he nor van Veen are amongst that group.
But on a serious note he says van Veen also knows he needs his team-mates to hit that total, which means everybody is working together.
He said: “Kevin has a real belief in himself, which is great.
“I think we’re often reluctant to pitch our goals and tell people that you feel you’re a good player, and on good form.
“The thing I love about Kevin is that even from the day I came in, he had the belief that he could go beyond 20 goals this season, that was the target.
“But when you listen to him, he always speaks about the team and about how his team-mates help him, of how he feels he can help them.
“I think that’s a great aspect, because it’s not just this individual wanting to try and reach his goal – he know if he can do that it helps the club and his team-mates, but he also realises he needs them to get to that as well.
“But I love the fact that he has pitched out there that he would love to try and break records, and he feels that he can get in and about that, come what may.
“He’s had a good season personally, but I do know he has a burning desire to see if he can push boundaries with those numbers as well.
“When you see the form that he’s in, if we can get service to him, balls in to him in certain areas, then I wouldn’t argue against it.”
Kettlewell added: “Sometimes it takes personality and character to be able to pitch that number out there and say ‘I believe I can do this’.
“I think what you also need to have is a strength of character, where if you don’t quite hit that mark, or fall a wee bit short, that you can take the flak that might come with it.
“I think we’re all a bit scared that somebody might laugh at us, or call us out. I’m definitely not, and I don’t think Kevin is either.
“I think he believes in himself, in the guys around about him, and I love it.
“In the past, strikers would talk about getting to their 15 goals, double figures and all that, and you don’t hear it very much, but it’s something I’ve quite enjoyed, listening to Kevin since I’ve come into the club.
“But he’s delivered on it as well.”
A potential strike partner for van Veen is Joe Efford, with the American getting 60 minutes under his belt in a 2-0 Reserve League win over Ayr United in midweek.
While Kettlewell is pleased to have him on the way back to fitness, he warns that he won’t walk straight back into the team.
He said: “It was great to see Joe out there. The initial plan was for him to get 45 minutes, but he felt good, pretty fit and there were no niggles from him, so we managed to get 60 in the end.
“But he’s only had a few days’ training and has been out for five months – and just now it’s incredibly difficult to get into that starting 11.
“It’s almost as hard to get yourself on the bench, which I think is a brilliant environment, because we have a lot of players at the club.
“I know how good Joe is, I’ve watched him from afar and know he brings different traits and attributes to our group.
“I’m looking forward to getting him back involved, as he has been for a few days, and hopefully he can kick on from here.”
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