Elliott looking to take his chance
Christie Elliott sees Kallum Higginbotham as his mentor but is hoping to take advantage of the Partick Thistle winger being sidelined for a month.
Higginbotham's form this season has meant most of Elliott's appearances have been off the bench, which was the case in the 3-0 Premiership defeat last week at Kilmarnock when the former Falkirk winger sustained a knee injury for which he will undergo surgery at the start of next week.
Ahead of the visit of Motherwell on Saturday, Elliott, 23, noted his personal silver lining in a dark Higginbotham cloud over Firhill.
He said: "It's a bad thing for Kallum. He's always done well for me, been on my side and wanting me to do well but it's a chance for me now and hopefully I take it.
"He's always giving me little tips as he is a bit more experienced than me, but he's one person that will want me to do well even though we are battling for the same position.
"He's a massive personality within the squad even though he's injured at the minute he's still one of the main boys.
"It's up to us now that he is not on the pitch to step up and prove how really good we are."
Elliott admits it is "really frustrating" being on the bench and is not keen to become known as an impact substitute.
He said: "You don't want to be known by that tag but I'll keep working hard and try to get rid of that vibe.
"I've just got to take my chance when it comes.
"Football is obviously a hard game when you're not playing week in week out but if I do feel I need to get something off my chest then the gaffer is approachable.
"He has encouraged me with what I need to do and what things I was doing wrong which has helped.
"Sometimes there is not an answer as to why you are not playing when you're doing so well in training, and then sometimes when the team is doing well it's hard to change the team.
"Obviously I'll keep giving 100 per cent in training and hopefully I'll get my chance to prove how good I really am."
Midfielder Gary Fraser (knee) and Sean Welsh (groin) remain out.
Meanwhile, Motherwell manager Stuart McCall is confident his side can produce a positive reaction to their derby humiliation - and he is further boosted by the return of his most experienced players.
McCall has skipper Keith Lasley and vice-captain Steven Hammell back from injury for the clash with Thistle while centre-backs Stephen McManus and Mark O'Brien are both fit again too.
Motherwell's underwhelming start to the season hit a real low last Saturday when they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Hamilton days after exiting the League Cup on penalties against Accies.
McCall admits they have to cut out the individual errors that hit them against their Lanarkshire rivals and hope their forward players find form.
But he is also hoping to be able to have a settled team after making seven, largely enforced, changes for the league clash with Hamilton.
McCall said: "We'll be looking for a reaction. We are always open and honest between the players and staff. They knew they let themselves down last week, let the supporters down, and as a group we let people down.
"We now have to show that we have the spirit and determination and desire to bounce back, which we have done year after year after year.
"I've watched it two or three times and it doesn't get any better, but we gave away two goals from individual errors and a dubious penalty.
"We need to get over it and there is no better way than to go and win your next game. You always have another game.
"We can look at last season, after the split we had a terrific 3-3 with Celtic and went up to Tannadice and got beat 5-1. People said we would never bounce back but we won our last three games and ended up, remarkably, finishing second. You can't afford to feel sorry for yourselves.
"When you are 2-0 down and under the cosh, that's when you need your leaders. Unfortunately last week we had Lasley and Hammell missing and McManus had to come off. We had (Iain) Vigurs and O'Brien missing too and all of them are now back.
"In certain games, we went to Celtic and played really well, and had a good shape, but we have got to find a system that suits us and get consistency of selection.
"You get that by being injury-free and having individual players playing at a good level. We have had that over the seasons and hopefully we can get back to that soon."
Source: PA
