It’s that time of year when games are coming thick and fast and next up is Livingston, fresh from their fine 1-0 home win over Celtic at the weekend.
If Steven Gerrard has learnt his lesson from previous seasons, we shouldn’t see too much rotation, the only thing missing from Sunday’s draw was a second goal, the build up play and movement was as good as we have seen all season – well, for an hour anyway.
David Martindale’s side won’t be pushovers, their league position doesn’t reflect how much of a challenge they will present, another early goal for The Famous would be greatly appreciated to ease nerves though.
These are the potential changes that I would want to make from the Motherwell team, if everyone remains fit and available:
Ianis Hagi haș to come in, if he is fit to do so, Scott Wright has done ok but the difference between the two is the final ball that the Romanian international is capable of delivering, with Kemar Roofe and Fashion Sakala leading the line, having someone who can create better chances could be what wins the game – Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos’s respective hamstrings should see them both sit this one out.
At the back, I’m just not convinced with Jack Simpson, if he plays, it could be his last chance but I don’t see why we can’t try Calvin Bassey in this fixture, he simply, can’t be any worse.
Midfield is an interesting one, Steven Davis shouldn’t be expected to play every game so, Gerrard can either bring John Lundstram into the central role or hand Juninho Bacuna his first start and put more responsibility on the shoulders of Glen Kamara – the former’s physicality may be what edges it against a team not shy in getting “stuck in”.
We were almost there on Sunday in terms of performance, hopefully it is a step in the right direction in the grand scheme of things and that we can return to winning ways – if not, we’ll be out the cup and the gaffer’s appalling record in the domestic competitions will continue, the reaction to dropping points against Motherwell was bad enough.