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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Motherwell star Kevin van Veen: I changed my mind for penalty winner

Kevin van Veen broke St Mirren's hearts with a penalty winner in Sunday's 1-0 win in Paisley, and admitted he changed his mind at the last second.

It looked like calmness personified, but the Dutch striker saw keeper Trevor Carson going early, and instead struck the penalty into the bottom right corner.

And van Veen admits the win was huge for Motherwell, following a week of turmoil, starting on Thursday with their dismal Europa Conference League second qualifying round exit at the hands of Sligo Rovers.

Manager Graham Alexander and assistant Chris Lucketti left by mutual consent on Friday, with Academy director Stevie Hammell answering the club's SOS to take caretaker charge, alongside under-18 coach Brian Kerr.

Van Veen says they restored a lot of belief in the players, which then transferred onto the pitch to give them a positive result.

But while he scored the penalty, van Veen reckons keeper Liam Kelly was every bit as much the hero, with a string of stunning saves.

"I always like to say I’m confident in those moments,” he said with a grin.

“I saw him [Trevor Carson] going early and put it the other side, because I was going left but changed my mind last second.

“It was important for my team to put that away, because it gave them a boost and belief.

“But I have to say Liam Kelly was unbelievable today, again.

Van Veen slots in the winning penalty but says he changed his mind at the last second (SNS Group)

“It’s unreal to have someone to fall back on like him.

“I think we need to give a lot of credit to our keeper. I might be scoring the winner, but for me Liam Kelly has got us the three points.

“We need to be grateful that he’s on our team, but everybody worked very hard for each other and I think we deserved the win."

Van Veen says the impact Hammell and Kerr made was huge after a difficult few days.

He said: "He told us to believe in ourselves and play, go out and play and enjoy ourselves.

“They brought positivity into the room straight away as you could see, as sometimes we played quite well.

Van Veen says Stevie Hammell told the team to belief in themselves again (SNS Group)

“We had meetings on Saturday and Sunday on the certain way we wanted to play, as he has his different strategy.

“We tried to get it all in our heads in two days, really.

“He said to believe in ourselves, that we’re good enough players and a good team.

“I think first half at times that showed and we saw the match out very professionally to get the three points.

“I’m just very happy we got the three points because if we didn’t then we need to look to next week and the negativity will continue.”

Liam Kelly produced a string of brilliant saves to keep St Mirren at bay (SNS Group)

Van Veen added: “That win was very important. There has been a lot going on the last week with Europe and losing the manager and assistant manager.

“To have a response like that is great, it’s good for the club and good for the fans.

“For us, obviously it was good to prove we are capable of winning games.

“We did it last year and finished fifth, so to get the season going with three points is very important for the confidence.

“There was a lot of negativity going on and obviously this is a very positive moment for the club, for the fans, and for us as players.

“The last two games weren’t good enough and today it was good enough, but still a lot of room for improvement.”

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.

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