Mixu Paatelainan has revived the fortunes of the Rugby Park side that finished two points ahead of the relegation spot last season. Few would have expected them to have occupied fourth place in the table for many of the winter weeks and much of that success has to be as a result of their goal scoring feats.
They have scored in each of their last twenty one games and had the top scorer in the SPL on their books. The loss of Sammon to Wigan together with the departure of Invicible , Combe and Owens must cause their fans some concern. The striker had contributed 15 SPL goals this season and we must be happy that he will not face us in the midweek game.
Randolph in control
While Kilmarnock will be disappointed that they have not managed a win in their last four outings, the record for Motherwell is worse. Our only three pointer in the last ten came when the shambles from Leith were at Fir Park recently. Paatelainan was in the stand at McDiarmid Park last week and the Motherwell display he saw would give him no cause for concern. Thankfully our semi-final performance at Hampden should have given us some belief.
The teams last met in sunny August when Nick Blackman’s first goal in claret and amber gave us a win at Rugby Park. Motherwell have already adjusted to the loss of players in the transfer window and our only import, Steve Jones, has made three appearances. Stuart McCall was clear that we needed some new faces before the window closed but, for whatever reason, we seem ace the rest of the campaign with an unchanged squad.
We’ll have to hope that the changes in the visiting dressing room disrupt their ability to find the net and that our boys, with a growing confidence pulled from the Hampden exploits, can score a couple. If so, a 2-1 win could be the result.
Remember the last time Kilmarnock visited?