Motherwell forward Jamie Murphy has credited manager Stuart McCall with furnishing the team with a confidence that they can triumph on the big occasion as they prepare for Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone.
The Lanarkshire side will be making their second appearance at Hampden this year after being denied them a Co-operative Insurance Cup final place by Rangers. But they were the better side for long spells of the 2-1 defeat and have since risen to the big occasion several times.
"The manager has instilled a belief in the team that we can win the big games," Murphy said. "We played well in the last semi-final without actually winning but we won the Scottish Cup tie against Dundee United here and we got a good result at Hearts to get the top six, so the manager has put a bit of belief in the team."
Motherwell had lost four out of five games before McCall took charge and their top-six hopes looked in danger when Nick Blackman, Alan Gow, Mark Reynolds and Marc Fitzpatrick left in January.
But Murphy revealed there was a determination within the squad not to let their season disintegrate.
"The games that we lost made us stronger," the 21-year-old said.
"We didn't want to get beat that many times in a row again. that was on everyone's mind when when we go out on the park that we don't want to get beat like that again.
"I think it has spurred people on and that's why we're doing well."
Source: PA
