New Motherwell signing Olly Crankshaw admits the Steelmen's struggles in the Scottish Premiership have taken him by surprise and he insists there is enough in the squad to get out of relegation bother this season.
The 24-year-old made his debut in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Ross County, where the Steelmen were just 10 minutes away from landing a vital victory over rock bottom County thanks to Stuart McKinstry's 68th minute strike.
However, Staggies' substitute Jordy Hiwula Mayifuila equalised within seconds of climbing off the bench to make it eight games without a win for the Fir Park side and leave them ninth in the table, just three points clear of County.
The Fir Park faithful now haven't witnessed a home victory since August but the Stockport County loanee believes he has seen enough in his first few days with the club to tell him they shouldn't be where they are in the table.
He said: “I’m surprised this team is where it is in the league table. Speaking to the gaffer, I know defensive errors have been costly and we have to take that into consideration.
"Maybe it’s a mentality thing so we need to put that to bed.
“Three points would boost everyone. Unfortunately we couldn’t get them against Ross County but looking at the group of players here and the gaffer, that will come. I’m sure of it.
“It wasn’t the debut I would have wanted, I didn’t get on the ball as much as I would have liked.
“The conditions were difficult, it was a hard game to come into but I was pleased to start the match.
“We would have taken a 1-0 win in those conditions and we were on course for that until we conceded a sloppy goal.
"Individual errors have cost us again.”
Crankshaw should some early flashes of what he can bring to the team, driving at the County defence and eager to deliver the ball into the box.
He faded in the second half before being replaced by fellow fresh face Mikael Mandron, the striker who arrived from Gillingham.
Asked what boss Steven Hammell is looking for from him, he added: "He wants me to be positive and bring that edge to the team.
“Hopefully I can bring that positivity to the team.
“The formation Motherwell use and the way the manager wants me to play suits me perfectly, so hopefully I can do a job for him. The move ticks every box for me.”
Meanwhile, Motherwell today expect to announce if defender Matt Penney, who is currently on loan from Ipswich Town, will be extending his stay in ML1 or returning to his parent club.
Boss Hammell said on Saturday: "We are still speaking about Matt. That will get announced on Monday, what is happening with that.
"We are in dialogue with them [Ipswich] so hopefully we will be able to confirm that one way or another."
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