Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden hoping to outdo twin brother Nicky
Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden has extra motivation to score against Ladbrokes Premiership bottom club Dundee United on Friday - to silence his twin.
Nicky Cadden scored a spectacular goal for Airdrie in their 1-1 draw with Forfar on Tuesday night, and he was quick to let his brother know.
The teenagers have both become first-team regulars for their clubs this season, adding some sibling rivalry to the pre-existing antagonism between the Lanarkshire clubs.
The Motherwell midfielder, who played with his twin in the Fir Park youth ranks, said: "It was an absolute belter, he has volleyed it from outside the box.
"That was good but, because my goal against Dundee was a volley, he is trying to say his was better than mine.
"It was a good goal but I need to try and better it on Friday.
"As soon as he came in he was saying: 'Mine was better than yours, wasn't it?' I said: 'Aye, no bother'."
The pair are the sons of former Albion Rovers midfielder Stephen Cadden, who also started his career with Motherwell and now has a coaching role in the Fir Park academy.
And Cadden senior has had to split his time between Fir Park and the Excelsior after Chris broke into the Motherwell starting line-up in January, and quickly established himself as a key player.
"I've been loving it," said the Motherwell player, who won a League Two title medal on loan with Albion Rovers last season. "It's what I dreamed of, it's what I wanted to do when I was younger and what I have been working towards. It's been brilliant.
"I was out on loan last year with the Rovers and that was brilliant. Then you come back and playing for the 20s and not playing first-team football was a bit frustrating.
"I wanted to kick on because I knew what it was like playing first-team football in front of a crowd and have a game with three points at stake and fans' expectations. I tried to push myself towards that."
Defender Louis Laing is likely to miss out after he suffered a groin injury against Hamilton on Saturday and could be out for a couple of weeks.
Defender Joe Chalmers (foot) is the only other absentee for McGhee.
Meanwhile, Mixu Paatelainen has told his Dundee United team to forget about their William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final and focus fully on this season's main prize - top-flight survival.
The Tannadice outfit produced a brave fightback with 10 men to edge past Ross County 3-2 on Saturday and seal a place in the last four.
They now face a Hampden clash with either Hibernian or Inverness next month.
But boss Paatelainen does not want his players dreaming about the National Stadium when they should be worrying about their Ladbrokes Premiership plight.
United remain bottom of the table, but can cut the gap on nearest rivals Kilmarnock to five points if they overcome Motherwell.
The Finn said: "It's very important to win and Saturday's result brings back the feel-good factor.
"But that can also be dangerous. We can't relax. We want to ensure that we perform, that we are in the right frame of mind before every game.
"I don't think just by getting into the semi-final it will help us in the league, though. It does give us confidence and the knowledge that we are doing the right things, but other than that, no it doesn't.
"Now we need to put the Scottish Cup in the background and concentrate solely on our league matches. Those matches are cup finals themselves.
"You could say we are involved in two cup competitions right now. Every match is huge for us. The Scottish Cup is some way in the future and right now we must focus on the league."
United last faced Well just three weeks ago when they capitulated in a 3-0 defeat.
That painful loss sparked a furious response from Tangerines chairman Stephen Thompson.
Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima is unlikely to be fit as he nurses a thigh strain.
Gavin Gunning (groin) does return, though, while Paul Paton has declared himself fit despite limping off midway through the 3-2 cup win in Dingwall.
Source: PAR
