Lasley lays down law on Euro chat
GIVEN the weather that has been pounding the country of late, it would perhaps only be natural for the minds of the Motherwell players to be wandering towards an opportunity to get away to sunnier climes.
But assistant manager Keith Lasley has warned the Fir
Park squad that if they don’t dig in and do the dirty work in the winter, they can forget about a summer reward of European football.
In fact, Lasley has told them they better not be remotely contemplating the prospect of European qualification ahead of tonight’s re-arranged league game against St Mirren, after a collective slip in standards saw
them toppled out of the Scottish Cup last week by the same opposition.
“I hope the players aren’t even thinking about Europe just yet,” said Lasley. “Come back and speak to me with a couple of weeks left in the season and, if we’re still in this position, I’ll be happy to talk about it.
“But at the moment it’s not part of our vocabulary and it’s certainly not in our thinking and I’m being perfectly serious when I say that.
“Every point is crucial. We get past that split and if we’re still in the mix, we’re definitely checking those other results.”
You get the sense from Lasley that the horrifying first-half performance last week, and the attitude of his players within it, that saw them 4-1 down to the Saints at the interval still rankles with him.
“St Mirren aren’t a gimme, not at all,” he said. “From bottom to top, there’s not a lot in this league. If we look at last week and think we can turn up, go through the motions and come through with any win, we’re going to be in trouble.
“The first half last week served as a reminder that every team in this division have got players who can hurt you. There is a bit of motivation there because it’s a stark reminder that, if you drop your standards, that can happen against any team.”