Dundee will provide the opposition to Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday. The visitors currently hold a four point advantage and the plan will be to narrow the gap.
The Dens Park side did not visit last season as their focus was in the Championship but they have now established themselves mid-table in the Premiership after the first round of fixtures and we can expect a tough encounter at the weekend.
Flying
They opened the campaign with five draws in the first eight games (including a 1-1 opener with Motherwell) but a recent spurt of three wins from the last five pushed them up the table.
We will see the familiar figure of Trevor Carson in the visitor’s goal but our on-loan player Ricki Lamie will not be allowed to face his home club. The former ’Well ‘keeper has had five clean sheets in his last five appearances. Up front, the threats will mostly come from Zach Robinson, Amadou Bakayoko and Zak Rudden.
Neutral observers may look at Motherwell’s ten game winless run and conclude that spirits are low in the Fir Park camp but the squad showed a determined fighting resolve that earned an unexpected point against Celtic. A similar demonstration against Dundee will surely confirm that a turning point has been reached.
Stuart Kettlewell changed formation for the Parkhead game and it seems likely that we will see the return of a striking partner for Mika Biereth. Jon Obika may claim that spot following his point saving goal.
Iain Snedden will be in charge of this match aided by Nick Walsh in the VAR room.
Let’s start the busy December run of fixtures with the win that has us looking up rather than down, 1-0.