TALKING MOTHERWELL Robbo labels Caddenone of Scotland’s wonderkids
MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson has praised young midfielder Chris Cadden after his storming start to the season, calling him one of the best young players in the country.
The 19-year-old has scored in each of the Steelmen’s three Betfred Cup matches so far, and he climbed off the bench to spark the revival which saw Well record a comeback win over Edinburgh City on Tuesday night.
His form has attracted interest from Hearts already this summer, but Robinson is sure that his player is in the right place to flourish, and that he is ready to set the Premiership alight this term.
“I think he’s one of the best young talents in Scotland,” Robinson said. “He’s a brilliant boy with a great attitude and willingness to learn.
“He caught my eye the first time I was here, and I pushed him into the first-team at that stage, and he’s gotten better and better.
“He’s enjoying his football and you can see that he’s play- ing with a big smile on his face, so I think he’s got a big season ahead of him.
“He reminded me of a young Stephen Pearson, that’s the first thing that caught my eye how he could travel with the ball and break into the box.
“We put him into a game against Ross County [for his debut] and he didn’t quite do it, so I had a chat with him afterwards then as assistant and urged him to take his opportunity, and he’s more than done that in the year since.”
Robinson is encouraged by the potential goal return from Cadden this season now that he is playing in a more central role.
“He’s added goals to his game, he wasn’t scoring a lot of goals,” he said. “He was having a lot of opportunities, but he’s now scored three goals already this season.
“We brought him on against Edinburgh City and he really does add that pace and energy to the team. We’ve challenged him to get more goals so hopefully he’ll continue to do that.”
Robinson says that another of his in-demand stars, striker Louis Moult, may start today’s game against Berwick Rangers as he works his way back to full fitness.
“Louis is joining in training today, we took him out the other night because he hasn’t had a proper pre-season and we wanted to give him a couple of days,” he said.
“Hopefully if he comes through training today then he may be able to start the game. If not, he’ll play some part in it.”
NEW Motherwell captain Carl McHugh has meanwhile cited his contentment both on and off the field as the major reason behind his decision to extend his stay with the club.
McHugh signed a contract extension during the week to keep him at Fir Park until July 2019, and he said: “I’m confident about the direction the club is going. When you look at the business the manager has done in the summer, I just have a good feeling about it.
“The mood in the camp has been has been good so far, so we just want to have a good season and not be in the position we found ourselves in last season.
“This is probably the happiest I have been off the pitch. I’m settled here and really enjoying my football since I got back in the team after Christmas.
“Happiness was the biggest part of my decision to sign the new deal. I can see that I can progress my career here and keep developing as a player because I’m still only 24 so I’ve still got a long way to go to develop.
“I’ve no doubt here is the best place for me just now. When you’re settled off the pitch it makes a difference on it too.
“One thing that head injury showed me is that it’s being happy and enjoying your football is the most important thing. It’s a short career and you want to be somewhere that you can play every week.” packed-out Pittodrie. It was brilliant with the noise and the fans singing my name – that is what it is all about. I am hoping there are many more moments like that to come for me.
“Going over to Cyprus with a lead is brilliant and we know we will create chances. We showed that on Thursday and now it is about going with a game plan.
“If we play like we did in the last round then we will have a great opportunity. We will need to be solid and to defend our lead but we have the quality to cause them problems and to score.
“We were gutted to lose a goal but showed good character to keep going and to get the goal. We now have a lead to take over there.”