Motherwell

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Paul McGinn (Motherwell): Another huge display from an unsung hero. The captain and was sure footed once again as the Steelmen recorded another clean sheet on the way to three points.

Elijah Just (Motherwell): Always a pleasure to see an elegant and classy midfielder perform so consistently and effectively in the 100mph hurly-burly of Scottish football. The New Zealander is the sort of player fans enjoy watching as he has the capability to produce special moments, the assist for Motherwell's first against St Mirren a perfect example.

Elliot Watt (Motherwell): What a signing he has been. Making it all tick right now at the heart of this Motherwell side. Can understand why Rangers are reportedly interested in him. A stunning goal in Saturday's 2-0 win.

Tawanda Maswanhise (Motherwell): Scored a terrific goal against South Africa in the Africa Cup of Nations and continued his magnificent form with a goal and an assist against St Mirren. What a player Motherwell have on their hands. You feel the major business Motherwell need to make in this transfer window is holding on to their star players, and the Zimbabwean is certainly one of them.

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Motherwell "will battle it out" with Hibernian for fourth place and European football, former captain Stephen Craigan has predicted.

The ex-Northern Ireland centre-half was waxing lyrical on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound about the impact of manager Jens Berthel Askou since the Dane arrived from IFK Gothenburg in the summer.

The "brilliant story" continued with Saturday's 2-0 win over St Mirren that keeps Well fourth in the table.

"There are so many stats," Craigan said. "Lost one in 13. They have 11 clean sheets. They have the best defensive record in the league, conceding just 16 goals, yet people say they play the most attacking, open football.

"So you can see it is not just about that. They have conceded one goal in their last nine league games.

"They are averaging 59% possession. This is unheard of from any team outside of the Old Firm."

Craigan has watched Askou's side improve since early in the season.

"It was possession without real purpose," he recalled. "They lacked a cutting edge. But, slowly but surely, they have found a way to goal and a way to dominate games.

"They have changed ever so slightly. What I noticed against Celtic and what I noticed against St Mirren yesterday - it's not all about playing in front."

Observers outside Scotland took notice after the midweek win over the reigning champions, with Craigan pointing out they did not play with a traditional centre-half or a traditional striker.

"He is happy to mix it up and they are a joy to watch," he said.

Askou has "united everybody" at the club behind his tactics, with nearly 8,000 in attendance against St Mirren - compared to just under 5,000 for a similar fixture last year.

Asked if Well could even mount a challenge at the top, Craigan added: "Title race, not for the me at the minute.

"Hibs will have grander ambitions of catching the top three, but I don't think they will. If Motherwell can end the season with European football, it will have been a magnificent season."

Askou's side travel to Hibs on Saturday, with a packed Easter Road expected to watch on.

Watch highlights as in-form Motherwell dispatch St Mirren in a comfortable Scottish Premiership victory.

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Jens Berthel Askou has revealed he has spoken with Elliot Watt about reports claiming Rangers are interested in the in-form midfielder and the Motherwell manager is relaxed about any potential bids for the Preston-born 25-year-old.

The former Scotland youth international scored his fifth goal of the season in Saturday's 2-0 win over St Mirren as he continues to impress after his summer switch from Burton Albion.

"I have had many conversations with Elliot about all sorts of things and this is also one of them," Askou said. "I think he's thriving with it.

"He's the same person and just enjoying life as a footballer right now. Big credit to him, he's a fantastic player. He's done so well like so many others.

"And, obviously, when you do well over time, attention will come from many places. That is something we will have to live with and deal with in the best possible way, use it as a positive thing and then keep driving."

Askou does not expect a glut of new players to arrive at Fir Park this month.

"No, it's not like there's a queue outside," he added. "But it is something we're working on in the background.

"It's a window, we're not going to open it up massively because it's freezing outside in January, so just a little bit and then we'll see if one or two slip through one way or another."

We asked for your thoughts following Motherwell's 2-0 win at home to St Mirren. Here is a flavour of Well fans' views...

Alan: Another scintillating performance from this ever improving team. Their quiet run up the league has been a joy to watch. Who knows where it might end but all the Motherwell staff should feel proud.

Big Al: Another outstanding display of football, despite playing against a St Mirren team set out to break up play and stop the flow of football. As well as an attention-seeking referee who wanted the game to be all about him. I really hope Jens stays at Motherwell when they play in Europe at what ever stage they make.

Robert: Another excellent performance. We are becoming better at converting chances and, up to now, our style is still causing teams problems. I like the manager's low-key approach. No fuss and a real learning culture. Let's hope we continue in this vein of form for a long time to come!

Donald: It's a pleasure to watch this Motherwell team. For the first time in many years they are playing open expansive football, without fear. The best 'Well side since the '70s. Long may it continue.

Ian: Another win. Another clean sheet. Another three points. Revenge over St Mirren. Fourth in the league. Will take that over winning the League Cup any day.

Frazer: If we beat Hibs away next week I think we have a slim chance of being in the title race, never thought those words would ever come out my mouth.

Gary: 7,000 Well fans today says it all. We are a joy to watch under Askou. No way will we win the league and fourth the realistic aim but it's great entertainment.

James: The superb football continues. Actually expecting to win every game now. Too many good performances to single anyone out, but SOD is playing like Cafu! An absolute joy to watch. COYW.

High-flying Motherwell sit two points behind Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership with a comfortable win against struggling St Mirren.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou: "Extremely good, just as good as the one the other day and maybe a little bit better because we've had some trouble with St Mirren so it was a sweet feeling to get our revenge.

"I have to give all the credit to the players out there. They produced a lot of great moments, two beautiful goals and chances for more while we were extremely focused in defence, won a lot of duels and second balls in some critical areas.

"We're not just in it two get a sexy win somewhere, lean back and say well done. We're here to have a fantastic season and then when it's done we'll have a little break and see if we can do even better next year. We want to win, we wanted to get the maximum out of the game today.

"The players are so eager to get out and play they don't even think about whether it's been one week or two or three days ago. They'll be a little bit irritated that they have to wait until next Saturday to play again.

"When they try to commit and jump at us, we know we can put a ball in behind and Tawanda is off. He was a constant threat, it was fantastic to have him back. It's not an easy finish, to be so composed to roll it between the legs of the goalkeeper as if he's never done anything else in his entire life. He makes things look easy and the way we were able to use his qualities today was fantastic.

"St Mirren are fantastic at suddenly turning a game around so I was hoping for us to score a third goal but it was great to see that goal from Elliot to go in. We invested a lot in the game to get that second goal and finally we got it.

"There will probably be people around the country who think we are [in a title race]. It is not the conversation we are having at Motherwell. We are extremely ambitious, we want to see how far we can take it but right now after 21 games we are in a position few expected. I want us to stay in this position and who knows maybe we can reach out for even more."

Motherwell assistant manager Max Rogers believes Elliot Watt is mature enough to keep his focus solely on matters on the pitch after the 25-year-old midfielder was linked with Rangers. (Scottish Sun), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Motherwell add Zimbabwe attacker Tawanda Maswanhise and on-loan Celtic defender Stephen Welsh following victory over the champions.

Regan Charles-Cook will miss eight weeks with an ankle injury.

Andy Halliday, Jordan McGhee and Aston Oxborough are closing in on returns while long-term absentees Filip Stuparevic (knee), Sam Nicholson (knee) and Zach Robinson (Achilles) remain out.

St Mirren have lost Jonah Ayunga (tendon) and Mark O'Hara (ankle) for two to three months, joining Keanu Baccus (hamstring tendon) on the sidelines.

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• Motherwell are unbeaten in their past six league meetings with St Mirren (W2 D4), although the past two have been drawn; these two sides last played out three successive league stalemates in August 2012.

• St Mirren have enjoyed just one win in their past eight league visits to Motherwell (D3 L4), a 1-0 victory in September 2023.

• Motherwell have failed to win their opening league fixture in each of the past five calendar years (D2 L3) since a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen in 2020.

• St Mirren have only won their first Scottish Premiership match of a calendar year once since 2019 (D2 L4), beating Dundee United 2-1 in 2022.

• St Mirren have the lowest shot conversion rate in the Scottish Premiership this season (7.1 per cent) while only Celtic (-10.1) have underperformed their xG more than the Buddies (-5.7 – 16 goals from 21.7 xG).

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Jens Berthel Askou is aiming for "a signature season" in his maiden campaign as Motherwell manager.

The Fir Park side defeated defending Scottish Premiership champions Celtic 2-0 on Tuesday evening - Motherwell's first win in the fixture since 2015.

"I've had the question before, do we need to get a signature win? Well, we're in it for a signature season," Askou said.

"It's three points and a clean sheet, like the 1-0 win against Dundee, just as important as that and just as big. We also had to fight really, really hard for that. That felt amazing that night when we scored at the end [against Dundee], and obviously it felt good on Tuesday.

"We have to distil all that positive attention we get now from everywhere, because that's not going to make us better. It feels good, but it's not going to make us better.

"We'll use that positive energy to work forward, because obviously we've had a tight programme and we have an extremely important game on Saturday [against St Mirren at Fir Park]."

Meanwhile, Eseosa Sule's loan spell from West Brom has ended, with the 19-year forward's appearances restricted to three by a thigh injury.

"We were very hopeful that when Eseosa came to us, we could nurture his talent with us," Askou said.

"Unfortunately, he had a setback with his injury that has robbed us and him of the opportunity to thrive here. We know there is talent there with Eseosa and he is a lovely young man who is full of positivity and optimism.

"I wish him the best for moving forward and strongly believe the future is bright for him."

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Experienced defender Paul McGinn has signed a new contract keeping him at Motherwell until the summer of 2027.

McGinn, 35, has made more than 100 appearances for the Fir Park side since 2022 and 545 club appearances overall. He was capped once by Scotland in 2021.

This term, the defender has helped Jens Berthel Askou's side up to fourth in the Scottish Premiership and through to the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup.

Motherwell host St Mirren on Saturday, the side that defeated them at Hampden.

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Rangers are considering a move for Motherwell midfielder Elliot Watt, 25. (Sun), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Elliot Watt described Motherwell's win over Celtic as "huge" but the midfielder wasn't surprised by it.

Jens Berthel Askou's side ran out deserved 2-0 winners for their first victory over Celtic in 10 years.

The Steelmen have already taken points off Hearts and Rangers, both ending in draws, but Watt felt a victory against one of the top teams was the only thing missing from their brilliant start to the season.

"It feels as though it's been coming against the big sides," the 25-year-old told BBC Scotland.

"We've been really frustrated this season that we maybe haven't got the points our performances deserved against the so-called bigger clubs and especially off the back of the last result at Ibrox were it felt as though we at least deserved something out of the game.

"So it was huge bouncing back and showing our mentality and our quality."

Watt scored Motherwell's second goal at Fir Park on Tuesday night and admits manager Askou must take a lot of the credit for their superb display against Celtic.

"Believe it or not, we didn't really work on anything in the final third," he added.

"It was the tactical tweaks the manager wanted to implement that he felt could get us the result.

"The manager's incredible. He sees things that many of us don't. The few tactical tweaks he's made in certain games this season have ultimately led to the results that we wanted. He's seen it and the players ultimately have to go out and deliver.

"We know we've got real good quality and strength and depth within the changing room and we've just got to keep proving that."

Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan and fellow Sportscene pundit Billy Dodds analyse the shortcomings of Wilfried Nancy's team in the 2-0 defeat at Motherwell.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Motherwell eased aside Celtic to pile further pressure on Wilfried Nancy with their 2-0 victory at Fir Park, their first win over the Glasgow club since 2015, and they've got four players in my team of the week.

Certainly wasn't overworked by Celtic but when the questions were asked Calum Ward was more than up to the challenge.

Stephen O'Donnell delivered the cross for the opening Motherwell goal. An important part of the Steelmen success story.

So much class in the victory over Celtic. Elijah Just has great touch, awareness and an ability to bring out the best in all around him.

Ibrham Said is a bundle of energy, tenacity and guile - plus a big goal. Personifies the total buy-in the Motherwell players clearly have for their manager and his method and vision.

We asked for your views after Motherwell beat Celtic for the first time in a decade with an impressive 2-0 victory at Fir Park.

Here's what some of you said:

Alan: This was a whole team performance with everyone sticking to the system the manager is implementing. It was a superb classy display from defence, midfield and attack with no apparent striker! Confidence must be ingrained in all the players now and we can only go from strength to strength. All involved in the manager's appointment should be congratulated. Get him on a longer term contract now!

James: Another fantastic piece of football, all players working hard for the team. Jen Berthel Askou has the tactics spot on. So proud to be a supporter of this team.

Robert: Best display of the season. We didn't allow Celtic air, and this was about how well we played, not anything else.

Colin: Man to man one of the best performances I have seen from a Motherwell team. A deserved win and without a starting striker. As mentioned before the strikers are not good enough and I think Jens knows that.

Mark: Sensational Motherwell do it again! We limited Celtic to very few clear chances or shots. That was the best I've seen Motherwell play, ever. Completely snuffed Celtic out of the game and it could have been 5-0. Enjoy the new year Well fans, it will be a good one.

Derek: Outstanding from start to finish, Askou had a tactical masterclass, totally outclassed Wilfried Nancy with his team selection, the best I've ever seen us play against Celtic at Fir Park. Every game is enjoyable right now and I'm extremely confident we will be challenging for a European spot this season! In Jens-ball we trust!

Watch the highlights as Motherwell secured their first win over Celtic in 10 years to pile further pressure on manager Wilfried Nancy. (Available to UK users only)

Calamitous Celtic missed the opportunity to move level on points with Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts after defeat at classy Motherwell heaped pressure back on manager Wilfried Nancy as his chaotic reign took another wrong turn.

Read the match report here.

Have your say here.

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou tells BBC Sportsound: "I think it's probably the best we have performed so far in the season, if you take the full game into consideration.

"The level of the opponent, us coming in from a hard game three days ago where we had to shake off some disappointment, some frustration, to then come today and deliver this with a tactical change in the way we set up our defensive structure, with just one day for the players to convert that into this performance, that was fantastic.

"It's an impressive win and it's a day that our supporters and everyone in the club will remember for a long time... We'll try and forget it.

"I think my most important words I said in the dressing room were that we are not going to let this stop us, meaning that we're not going to think now we're a fantastic team and now we've done everything because we had this signature win that everyone's talking about for us.

"What we need to do is to create something over time and over the course of the season and the three points today and the clean sheet helps on that."