Father of all pep talks
Liam Kelly reveals how his career has hit lift-off with help from his dad
LIAM KELLY insists some tough love from dad Danny has opened a door to success for club and country.
The Motherwell keeper revealed his no-holds-barred family chats have become part of a pre and postmatch ritual.
After another faultless display in the Fir Park side’s win over Dundee, the 25-year-old revealed his old man ensured all his bases were covered.
A string of impressive showings this term earned a Scotland call-up last week and Kelly says his father should be taking some of the credit.
He said: “My older brother, Sean, plays for Livingston and my younger one plays for St Mirren so my dad talks to us all about what he sees and how we can get better. It’s friendly chat, really, but it’s open and honest conversation.
“It helps sometimes. Like before this game, he said: ‘Watch out for Charlie Adam – he shoots from the halfway line and he shoots from their corners’ and I’m like ‘I know dad, I’ve been watching him play for years!’
“But we’re delighted with the win and all the other players’ families will be the same.
“Football is a tough game and we have some brutally honest conversations in the dressing room and I include myself in that.
“When we lost at Dundee we didn’t perform and didn’t deserve anything from it but if we give maximum effort we’ll be alright.”
The next target for the former Rangers ace is to try and convince national boss Steve Clarke to give him a cap but he’s just delighted to be in the reckoning for a place in for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
He said: “I’m so excited by it and very proud to have been called up. There are so many good goalkeepers out there so being selected on merit is really pleasing.”
Kelly’s been the perfect fit between the sticks for Graham Alexander’s men and despite surviving a few scares against Dundee, it was another performance marked with calm authority.
Well were below par despite claiming the points and survived Paul McMullan’s early effort which rattled the underside of the bar and bounced to safety as well as a couple of near things from Jason Cummings.
A turning point was Charlie Adam being forced off with a groin strain after half an hour, minutes before Tony Watt headed the home side ahead from a Jake Carroll free-kick.
The strike proved decisive despite Carroll’s late red card for a lunge on
Max Anderson and Dee meriting something to show for their efforts but that inability to find a clinical touch where it matters remains a feature of their start to this season.
Back to back league wins has helped Well build momentum and Kelly insists the win gained some revenge for losing to Dundee in the League Cup this month.
He said: “I’m delighted with the clean sheet and three points. We always knew it was going to be a tough game but every game this season is going to be so close.
“I’m over the moon with the three points and even though we made it difficult for ourselves at the end with Jake’s red card, we dug in really well and they didn’t really have any clearcut chances towards the end.”
Kelly also backed matchwinner Watt to join him in the Scotland squad as he added: “A Scotland recall is a definite possibility for him.
“He’s a top player and I wouldn’t want to play against him. Squads are always picked on merit so if Tony continues to do well and score goals then I think the Scotland manager would call him up. Tony’s a brilliant guy with a winning personality.”