New year, new cheer? Motherwell begin 2023 in Livingston.
Few teams in the league will be more grateful to see the back of 2022 than Motherwell but Livingston is no one’s idea of a good venue to go first-footing.
We actually have a respectable record there (two losses in six league visits since their return to the top-flight, and we also won there in the cup) but this is easily forgotten. The appalling pitch and impressively combative nature of the hosts means even games that are won are not pretty.
Organisation, discipline and fight will likely be needed to prevail on this occasion as well, three attributes even the most generous Motherwell fan would struggle to find in our current squad.
Manager Stevie Hammell seems good at identifying our problems – can’t defend, can’t score – but fixing them is proving harder. Shane Blaney, signed from our summer conquerors Sligo Rovers, could debut and we can only hope he immediately boosts the back four.
We will hope Kevin van Veen is fit to lead the attack from the start again with the midfield behind him a mystery. The trio of Callum Slattery, Sean Goss and Blair Spittal are well established but results say a rolling of the dice is needed.
Hopefully 2023 will bring better things and a 1-1 draw could be considered a positive start.