Motherwell and Kilmarnock meet at Fir Park on Friday night for their first league clash of the season.
The visitors enjoyed a three point success after seven attempts on Sunday when their ten men left Hearts at the bottom of the table. The early dismissal of Robbie Deas seemed only to strengthen their resolve and with the help of a spot kick they ended a long winless run.
Unsurprisingly Derek McInnes was fulsome in praise of his players as they moved up to eighth in the table. He will be hoping that the work rate can be replicated against Motherwell.
The teams were scheduled to play at Rugby Park last month but that fixture was postponed due to Motherwell’s appearance in the League Cup semi-final. On that run to Hampden Moses Ebiye ended Killie’s progress with a goal in extra-time at Fir Park. That was another occasion when a McInnes team had to play with a man short. They have now accumulated seven reds this season.
Following Motherwell’s thrilling 4-3 win against Dundee United on Saturday the players sprinted from the pitch eager to participate in their Christmas bash. They returned with (hopefully) clear heads to prepare for a third consecutive win on Friday.
Whisper it, but Kilmarnock have not done well at Fir Park recently. That trend may well continue as Santa delivers an early present, a 2-1 home win.