This will be the Gorgie side’s first visit to Motherwell since March 2014 when goals from Vigurs, Ainsworth, Sutton and McFadden delivered an easy 4-1 home win. Current form all but rules out a repeat result as fortunes have swung in favour of the visitors this season.
Off the field the clubs have forged close links as they aspire to fan ownership and the ‘Well Society has been grateful for the advice of the Foundation of Hearts as it builds its membership. Hearts will wear a strip listing more than 8,000 fans that made financial contributions to their club and Motherwell are likely to follow that initiative with next season’s shirt.
On the field Motherwell know they will face a stiff test. Their Spanish and Swedish forwards Juanma and Sow have already a dozen goals to their credit and they will be of huge concern to our back line. The pair, 6ft 3in and 6ft 5in tall, not only pose a threat at set pieces but they have enough confidence with the ball at feet to be dangerous in open play.
Our counter will be to restore McManus after his one match suspension and he’ll pair with Kennedy at centre back. Both Lasley and Hammell had an hour of game time when they turned out with the U20 team against Hibs on Tuesday. Assuming no ill effects we can expect them to add some experience to the starting eleven.
Although there will be pressure on Hearts to maintain their spot behind the league leaders we know from our exploits in recent seasons that there is far more intense stress to be found in the relegation zone. The campaign has not yet reached halfway but with each passing week in the bottom third the alarm increases.
A huge effort will be needed if we are to avoid a third straight defeat but with the return of a trio of senior players there should be some reason to hope that we can take a point after a 1-1 draw.