Motherwell travel to Easter Road on Saturday for a tilt at a place in the top half of the table, a prospect that was unimaginable at the turn of the year. Only four games remain before the league splits. A tense tussle is expected.
This season’s previous meetings have gone with home advantage. The most recent brought joy to ‘Well fans when David Turnbull scoredunder the Fir Park lights in January but our record in Leith has been poor of late. We have to go back to August 2013 (just before our Europa League trip to Russia) for a Motherwell win at Easter Road.
Our opponents appointed Paul Heckingbottom in the middle of February and since then they have recorded three league wins followed by a loss to Celtic and a draw with Rangers.
That draw last week earned Darren McGregor a red card and he will therefore be missing from the centre of the home defence. Paul Hanlon may have to pair up with an unfamiliar partner given that the easy replacements are injured. There is a suggestion that Mark Milligan may drop back from midfield.
Stephen Robinson has settled on a regular starting eleven and in the absence of any injury news it seems likely that we will start with the same team that destroyed Hamilton last week.
Liam Grimshaw will get a hearty round of applause from the away stand in acknowledgement of his agreement to extend his stay at Fir Park. His decision has been met with universal approval and we look forward to his tireless energy bringing success on the right flank.
Much focus will remain on the emerging talents from our youth system. Alan Campbell, David Turnbull and Jake Hastie have attracted much praise and if they can maintain the standards set in recent weeks we may celebrate a move up the table after a 2-1 victory.