Baraclough to turn to youth
Motherwell manager Ian Baraclough could be set to turn to youth for the visit of Scottish Premiership leaders Aberdeen following his team's New Year's Day thrashing by Hamilton.
Baraclough had little to cheer him as he suffered his first defeat as Motherwell boss in the worst possible circumstances when his team went down 5-0 against their Lanarkshire rivals.
But the Englishman was heartened by the attitude of his three young substitutes, Lee Erwin, Chris Cadden and Dom Thomas.
Erwin was an early replacement for the injured Simon Ramsden while Cadden replaced the returning Steven Hammell at half-time, and Thomas injected some badly-lacking creativity in the latter stages.
Baraclough was already without Mark O'Brien, Zaine Francis-Angol, Bob McHugh, Iain Vigurs, Paul Lawson, Craig Moore and Jack Leitch through injury at New Douglas Park.
And, with the team going down to Motherwell's worst Lanarkshire derby defeat for 80 years, Baraclough may give the young players another opportunity against Aberdeen.
Baraclough said: "If you are going to look for positives, which I always do, then three young lads came on and showed no fear in going and playing, especially the two lads that came on in the second half when it was almost a lost cause.
"They wanted to get on the ball, they wanted to make things happen, they wanted to run around and give you absolutely everything.
"They had no fear factor whatsoever and it may be that two or three of those get a chance because of that.
"In this situation, you may have to give kids a chance because they will give you everything."
Baraclough again faces a number of fitness problems.
Simon Ramsden (hamstring strain) went off early against Hamilton while Steven Hammell departed at half-time as he works his way back from groin surgery.
Mark O'Brien (head knock) and Stuart Carswell (illness) could return but Zaine Francis-Angol, Craig Moore, Iain Vigurs, Paul Lawson and Bob McHugh are unlikely to make it back while Jack Leitch is out for the long term.
Derek McInnes will stress to his table-topping Aberdeen side the importance of keeping their focus against shell-shocked Motherwell.
The Dons leapfrogged champions Celtic by one point at the top of the Scottish Premiership on New Year's Day with a 2-0 home win over St Johnstone, as the Hoops' clash with Partick Thistle was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Firhill.
With Celtic not playing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park until Monday night, the Granite City men will go four points clear if they beat a Well side reeling from their 5-0 thrashing by Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton on January 1.
It was the Steelmen's first defeat under Baraclough but the Pittodrie manager, while delighted that his side are top, is taking nothing for granted.
"The players should feel good about themselves (after St Johnstone) but also recognise that we need to be ready for the next one," McInnes told the club's official website.
"I haven't seen Motherwell in the flesh since the new manager came in.
"But we have had them watched and we have DVDs to watch between now and then.
"Their result against Hamilton does not affect the way we approach the game.
"Their defeat goes against where they have been, they had picked up some points and shown a little improvement.
"But probably a strong Hamilton performance played a part in that as well.
"Sometimes when you take a sore one you analyse things then the players are always ready to go out and give a strong performance. Players are always ready to react so I expect them to come out strongly.
"We just have to make sure that we bring a strong Aberdeen performance to get the result we want.
"Although they have lost a few players in the summer there is still a lot of experience and ability in the Motherwell squad."
Barry Robson returns to the Aberdeen squad after recovering from illness.
McInnes has no fresh injury worries for the trip to Lanarkshire following the 2-0 win over St Johnstone on New Year's Day. Clark Robertson and Craig Storie are closing in on returns to fitness following injury but Willo Flood, Nicky Low and Russell Anderson remain sidelined.
Source: PA
