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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Motherwell boss Graham Alexander will tell his players how other games are going

Graham Alexander says he will tell his Motherwell players how other games are going, as they battle for a Premiership top-six finish.

Going into the weekend fixtures, seven teams are competing for the remaining three top-six slots, with Motherwell currently in fifth, knowing that a win at Livingston will guarantee their place.

The Steelmen are on 39 points, with Hibs in sixth one point below; Ross County in seventh, and Saturday's opponents in eighth. Aberdeen in ninth and St Mirren in 10th are also still in contention.

While play is raging on at Almondvale, Aberdeen host Ross County, and there are derbies at Tannadice where Dundee United host Dundee, and Tynecastle, where Hibs clash with Hearts. St Mirren then host Rangers on Sunday.

Alexander says he sees no sense in keeping his players in the dark about what is going on elsewhere, if it will help them on the pitch, but will make that judgement call on when to tell them.

He said: "I think at a certain point I will [let them know] later in the afternoon.

Motherwell know that a win at Livingston tomorrow will guarantee their top-six place (SNS Group)

"I don't think after 10 minutes of the game or half an hour in it's necessary.

"They'll maybe get an update at some point, at half-time, just to give us an idea of the latter stages of the game, how we might have to approach it, regardless of what's going on. I think that's just common sense to be aware at that stage.

"I'd rather it be closer to the end of the games and see if what we're doing needs to be enhanced, or if what we're doing is enough."

Alexander and his staff will keep an eye on events elsewhere, but he wants the players' focus to be on beating Livingston and ensuring they are in control of their own destiny.

He said: "I think that's for me and my staff to be aware of, I don't think it's anything the players have to be aware of until we make it clear what we possibly have to do - but that's not in our thinking right now.

"Going into the game, certainly in the first half, thinking about that is completely unnecessary. Even at half-time there might be some sort of scenario going on. I don't think it's worthwhile the players are even contemplating what is going on elsewhere.

Alexander and his staff will keep an eye on other games and judge when to tell the players (SNS Group)

"The games swing to and fro all the way through, we have to be fully focused as a team once we're on that pitch, about what the job in hand is.

"We went into the game last week knowing that we had to get a positive result to give ourselves a chance, because we only had two games left, so credit to the players for that, but as everyone can see, the job isn't done."

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