Next up, Two Home Games

Our twosome in the U21 squad had quite different experiences in Friday’s game against Lithuania. Hammell got on the score sheet but poor Pearo failed to get even a seat on the bench as the recurring problem with his heel forced him to withdraw. He has been struggling with this trouble for a few weeks now and possibly the rest will aid recovery. Stephen is scheduled to team up with old ‘Well boy McFadden at Pittodrie in a Scotland Future game against Germany on Tuesday October 21.

Two home games in prospect will give the Fir Park coffers a boost especially as the first is against Rangers. The BBC has seen fit to make its usual weekly donation to one of the Old Firm from our patch this week and the game has been moved to Sunday 19 October with a three pm kick off. In all probability the visitors will not take up their full allocation and the TV fee will make up the difference.

The following game could pose an interesting puzzle for the administrators at Hampden. The Dunfermline game is due to take place on Saturday 25 October. However the first round of the Uefa Under 19 Championship (Qualifying Matches) poses a potential clash.

The round is being hosted by the SFA with Scotland involved in games against the Faroes (Saturday 25 October at Ayr), Turkey (Monday 27 October at Dumbarton) and Macedonia (Wednesday 29 at New Douglas Park, Hamilton). The Motherwell squad, given its youthful make up, provides several players for this representative event and it seems likely that Terry Butcher will request a postponement of the Dunfermline game. The players likely to be involved are Quinn, Clarkson and Wright who regular members of the first team squad and goalkeeper Andy Reid.

Meanwhile the manager, newly returned from Istanbul, will start plotting the downfall of Rangers. If the game goes the same way as it did on Boxing Day 2002 then we’ll be celebrating!