Motherwell have an opportunity to halve the gap with Livingston when the teams meet at Fir Park on Saturday.
Since David Martindale’s side lost a home Scottish Cup tie to Inverness they have recorded only one win in their last six league games. The drop in form has them out of the top six and one place above Motherwell.
They suffered a 3-0 defeat in Paisley last week, all three goals conceded before half-time. All the post-match comments from the Almondvale camp make reference to the growing pressure as the prospect of a top six finish recedes. They hardly need reminding that Ricki Lamie’s last gasp header robbed them of that prize a year ago.
Kevin does what Kevin does
By way of contrast the atmosphere in the Fir Park dressing room is that of growing confidence. Three set piece goals earned a well deserved win at Easter Road to widen the safety margin over the drop zone.
Although little change is expected in the staring eleven the manager has an increasing pool available as players return from injury. Joe Efford played for the reserves in midweek, a first appearance since November. Other senior players joined him to maintain their claim for first team inclusion.
Kevin van Veen now has twenty goals this season and that tally puts him in an elite group but it was Sean Goss who was included in the SPFL team of the week thanks to his wonderful free kick and commanding contribution to the win over Hibs.
Livingston will come with their familiar game plan and a tough contest is likely but if Motherwell can maintain the positive attitude that has served so well in recent outings there is every reason to expect another happy Saturday night for the Steelmen after a 2-0 win.