Source: FOOTYMAD
European Ambitions For Motherwell And United
Both sides want to bring European football back to their grounds next season. Motherwell manager Craig Brown wants his players to make the most of home advantage over the rest of the season. The Lanarkshire side will play two more away game than home games this season after being the main victim of the anomalies of the SPL split. The Steelmen take on Dundee United today and also face Hibs at home and, with trips to Glasgow to play both Celtic and Rangers to come, Brown realises their Europa League qualification hopes rely heavily on getting points from their Fir Park games. Motherwell can move into fourth place in the SPL if they beat United, as Hibs lost to Celtic yesterday. Brown said: "The home games are against two, I would like to think, comparable teams in Dundee United and Hibs, so we have got to think in terms of not just this season and next season, where we want to be placed. Our results against all the remaining teams will be significant but the home ones in particular because clubs who have any ambition are expected to win their home matches. We do expect to win the two remaining home matches.'' Motherwell have lost another twice since United ended their 12-game unbeaten SPL run last month but Brown is not panicking. He has been encouraged by much of their play during a 2-1 defeat by Celtic on Tuesday. The ex-Scotland manager said: "Professional players know when they are doing well and how games are going, and I think they sensed they were every bit as good and deserved to get something out of the game. The fact that we didn't was disappointing and all we can do is put that behind us and focus on the positive aspects of the performance. We want to finish with a flourish because we've dipped in the last few games in terms of results, not necessarily in terms of performance. United and ourselves are similar, we have both lost three games since the turn of the year." Brown will leave it late to make a decision on the fitness of Keith Lasley for the game as the midfielder continues to struggle with a knock just below the knee. But Stephen Craigan is expected to make the game despite limping off against Celtic in midweek. Lukas Jutkiewicz is hopeful of overcoming his recurring knee injury to keep his place in the starting line-up but John Ruddy (thigh) remains on the sidelines. United will be without Mihael Kovacevic after his red card against Rangers while Paul Dixon is out for the season with a broken foot. However, United manager Peter Houston could have midfielder Scott Robertson back in his squad for today's away game. The Scotland international has been out for months with a groin problem but has resumed training in recent weeks and may be able to win a seat on the bench. Houston said: "Scott has been training but I'll wait on him coming to me to say he's ready for a place on the bench. The last thing we're going to do is force him because we've tried to get him into the team in the past only for him to suffer a wee setback. But that's three weeks he's trained for and he's been pain free so he's made remarkable progress. He wouldn't be anywhere near starting a game but if he says he feels up to it then we'd think about him. He's feeling really good and, a bit like we did with Francisco Sandaza recently, maybe 20 minutes here and there wouldn't be beyond him.'' Midfielder Danny Swanson believes Houston has proved he is his more than capable of being his own man after leading the team to the Scottish Cup final and within a whisker of Europe. The Tannadice boss was voted Manager of the Month for March in recognition of United's sparkling form and he has even been mentioned as a rival to Walter Smith for the overall season award. Houston has played down his efforts so far but Swanson reckons he has stamped his own authority on life at United since the departure of Craig Levein to the Scotland job last December. He said: "Everyone is so happy for Housty. I think he's shown what a top manager he's going to be. He's obviously learned a lot from Craig Levein because they worked together for so long but he's shown he's his own man as well. He's not changed too much but the ideas he's had have been good. Housty, Paul Hegarty and Gary Kirk are a really good team, they bounce off each other well and the three of them are great coaches." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba Net
