Motherwell midfielder Keith Lasley rates 2011 as the most enjoyable year of his career and is looking forward to 2012 which he hopes will be just as prosperous for the Fir Park side. Stuart McCall began his reign as Motherwell manager with a New Year's Day draw against Hamilton, and the club went on to enjoy one of the best years in their recent history. Motherwell secured a top-six place in the SPL and reached the Scottish Cup final, and they start 2012 in third place in the SPL. They hope to continue their impressive away record when they travel to Ibrox today to take on Rangers. Lasley has been one of the Fir Park side's most consistent and influential performers and has scored four goals this season, and he has credited McCall with creating the ideal environment to play in.Lasley said: "I think he's done a great job first and foremost. Craig Brown and Archie (Knox) left and he came in at a time when they had done a good job. He has taken us forward another step. We had a good finish to last season and got to the Scottish Cup final and we have kicked on again in the league. His record speaks for itself and he has made a couple of shrewd acquisitions in the summer. He creates a good platform to play your football and a good environment to train. He is a bubbly character but he certainly lets you know when things haven't gone as well as they should have. We are just looking to keep going the way we have been going. The calendar year has been a great year in the league and the two cups. If we can emulate that, that's the aim. We finished sixth last year so we want to better that and hopefully get another good cup run. From a personal point of view it has been the most enjoyable year I have had. Hopefully this year coming is even better."Motherwell had won five consecutive away games before a 2-0 defeat by Hearts on Christmas Eve and Lasley is determined to put on a better display at Ibrox. He said: "It was a poor performance all round at Tynecastle. We certainly didn't perform as we had been doing, especially away from home. We have probably played most of our best football away from home. The big disappointment was not really losing the game, it was the manner we lost it. The performance was pretty poor. It was disappointing not having a game on Wednesday to get it out of the system but we're looking forward to Rangers. It's a great stage to play your football. Hopefully we can show people how we can play. We're just looking at getting back to the way we have been playing."
Home Away Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS 1 Celtic 21 9 1 1 24 5 7 1 2 17 10 26 50 2 Rangers 21 7 3 0 18 7 8 0 3 19 5 25 48 3 Motherwell 19 3 3 3 7 9 7 1 2 17 12 3 34 4 St Johnstone 21 4 1 6 13 15 5 4 1 13 5 6 32 5 Hearts 21 7 0 4 18 7 1 5 4 4 7 8 29 6 Dundee Utd 21 3 3 4 10 10 3 5 3 20 23 -3 26 7 St Mirren 21 4 3 4 13 12 2 5 3 9 15 -5 26 8 Kilmarnock 20 4 4 2 18 15 1 4 5 7 15 -5 23 9 Aberdeen 21 4 4 3 16 11 1 2 7 7 17 -5 21 10 Inverness CT 21 3 2 5 12 16 2 2 7 16 24 -12 19 11 Hibs 20 1 4 5 9 15 2 2 6 9 18 -15 15 12 Dunfermline 19 0 4 5 11 25 3 1 6 9 18 -23 14
Source: FOOTYMAD
