Time for 'Well to switch on

JAMES TRAYNOR, CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

7 Nov 1995

THREE successive premier-division defeats have left doubts swirling around Fir Park, and unless Motherwell quickly rediscover their belief in the passing game which manager Alex McLeish has been trying to foster, the run of woe will have been extended to four matches before this day is over.

Satellite television have chosen the Lanarkshire side's home game against Hearts for live transmission, but the cameras could be regarded as prying eyes anxious to look in on Motherwell's grief.

On the strength of their most recent encounters, they are not yet ready for widespread exposure.

However, McLeish remains defiant and he has been urging his players to forget defeats by Hibernian, Partick Thistle, and Celtic and believes there is not much wrong with his side which a good win couldn't put right.

He is aware, though, that more positive action must soon be taken.

"We have got to turn he corner soon," he said.

"There is still a good spirit among the players and they know this is a big game for us."

McLeish has been hampered by injuries so far this season, but he is not the only manager suffering in this respect and has no wish to search for excuses.

Besides, his players should have done much more than they have to prevent themselves from slipping into the bottom area of the premier division, where life can become extremely difficult and cruel.

Their 2-0 defeat by Celtic left them in third-bottom place with 10 points, the same number as Thistle and only two ahead of Falkirk, who are in last place.

McLeish bemoaned the fact that his players conceded the midfield zones to Celtic, and if they are as foolish again this evening they would be in real danger of losing again.

McLeish will be without Eddie May and Tommy Coyne, but Miodrag Krivokapic might be ready to return.

A 19-year-old, Greig Denham, might also be considered.

Hearts, after some dreadful performances, looked much better on Saturday when they beat Thistle 3-0, and the three foreigners who seem to have injected fresh life into the Tynecastle side will play again tonight.

The manager, Jim Jefferies, still has to decide if the Swede, Hans Eskillson, who scored on his debut on Saturday, will be on the bench again or play from the start.

Gilles Rousset, Hearts' French keeper, and their Italian defender, Pasquale Bruno, will be among the first chosen, and Jefferies said: "Saturday lifted us off the bottom and now we have to keep moving up, but we are on a high while Motherwell might feel most of the pressure is on them.

"In the bottom part of the league you have to try to live off one another's vulnerabilities."

Explaining the logic behind wishing to sign players like Eskillson, who appears to be no more than an enthusiastic and powerful player, and Bruno, who has been trying without a great deal of success to find a club outside his own country, the manager said: "The financial position in which Hearts find themselves means that, for the next two years or so, I will have to get the team through any way I can until we reach the day when money is available for players.

"In the two outfield players we have taken on, one is technically gifted and the other is someone whose style lifts the crowd."

Although Rousset has signed until the end of his season, Jefferies will be negotiating further with Bruno and Eskilson, who are commited to only three games, the second of which will be played tonight.

Taken from the Herald