Motherwell begin the quest for best of the rest when Kilmarnock come to Fir Park on Saturday.
Kilmarnock have had the better of the previous encounters this season with a haul of five points from the nine available. Despite a couple of recent wins they are currently in the play-off spot and pressure increases on the players and the manager as the games run out.
Their last outing delivered a first away triumph when they surprised St Mirren with goals from Liam Donnelly and Christian Doidge. Derek McInness was quick to underline the success and talked up his anticipation of the scrap that lay ahead.
The Ayrshire travellers sold out their allocation in Paisley and we can expect a healthy contingent to make the journey up the M77 at the weekend.
Stuart Kettlewell was delighted to see his side take a rare point from Parkhead as the first part of the season drew to a close. The point ended Celtic's 100% domestic run but the greater significance to Motherwell was that it ensured a decent gap over the chasing pack.
Confidence is high at Fir Park as the team continues on the best run of the campaign. Five wins and a couple of draws from the last nine under the new management team have released the strain that was evident over the winter months. After a couple of weeks free of competition some bumps and bruises should have eased to allow a familiar line-up to be selected.
Shane Blaney and Joe Efford scored in last week's reserve fixture with Stuart McKinstry and Bevis Mugabi on the score sheet for the second string on Tuesday. They will remind the manager that there is competition for places.
The visitors will come with attacking intent and that should make for an open game that will suit Motherwell’s style. Few would bet against van Veen adding to his impressive goal tally and he may be the difference in a 2-1 home win.