Motherwell have two massive games to put Killie defeat behind us, says star

Motherwell star Ricki Lamie says Motherwell have a huge week ahead of them to put things right after Saturday’s bruising 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock.

The Steelmen were 1-0 up through Kevin van Veen’s fourth goal of the season in 14 minutes, as he latched onto Blair Spittal’s through-ball before clipping a crisp shot past Sam Walker.

But Ben Chrisene hit the bar in the first half for Killie and they turned the screw in the second half, with goals from Danny Armstrong and Ash Taylor keeping all three points at Rugby Park.

With Inverness visiting on Wednesday in the Premier Sports Cup second round, and Dundee United coming to Fir Park on Saturday, Lamie hopes it’s a chance to put things right.

He said: “When you go anywhere away from home and you get a lead it’s a painful one to throw away, or to not even come away with a point.

“The manner in which we conceded the goals makes it a wee bit more painful as well, with the second one from a set-piece.

“There was a lot of balls coming in to our box and in the main we defended pretty well.

“But that was a free header from one of their main targets, so that was a sore one.

“Overall I think it’s been a positive start to the season. We’ve played some good stuff and scored some good goals. It was the same again on Saturday.

Lamie says the manner of Motherwell's defeat was painful, as Paul McGinn (left) and Kevin van Veen look dejected at full-time (SNS Group)

“We created plenty of chances. We’ve done really well to pick up the points we have so far but you look at Kilmarnock and St Johnstone at home, we’ve lost poor goals. Those are the small margins.

“This is a massive week, especially with a home tie against Inverness before Dundee United.

“It’s not off to the best start but we have a couple more to put it right.”

Lamie was pleased to see van Veen hit the mark, but concedes that the big Dutchman needs help if Motherwell are to enjoy a fruitful season.

He said: “Kev is a quality player, which we saw again on Saturday.

“We’ve got creative threats in the team and if the manager can add a couple that would be good.

Lamie hopes for better results for Motherwell in the rest of the week ahead (SNS Group)

“We’ve already got a lot of quality.

“The start we’ve made we’ve shown we can complete. The manger is still putting his stamp on it.

“But it makes it all the worse to score a goal like that and then not come away with anything.”

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