Alexander urges Clarke to take chance on Watt

WHEN Stephen Robinson brought Tony Watt to Fir Park on a short-term contract in January of last year, domestic rehabilitation was the only thing on the player’s mind. His arrival at Motherwell seemed like merely another port of call in a seemingly aimless drift which had seen him turn out for Airdrie, Celtic, Lierse, Standard Liege, Charlton Athletic, Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, Hearts, OH Leuven, St Johnstone and CSKA Sofia in the space of eight years.

Fortunately for the 27-yearold, returning to his roots in Lanarkshire has seen him belatedly fulfil the potential he showed when scoring the winning goal in a Champions League tie against the great Barcelona side and qualifying for a championship medal with Celtic in 2012-13.

Watt is Motherwell’s leading scorer, with five goals from 13 appearances thus far, and manager Graham Alexander is convinced that he would not let Scotland down if called upon in next month’s World Cup qualifying games against Moldova and Denmark next month. Victory in Chisinau would guarantee a play-off semi-final place for the visitors and current Motherwell manager Graham Alexander – who dropped the player earlier in the season – believes he could now be the perfect replacement for suspended talisman Lyndon Dykes.

“He should 100 per cent be under consideration, definitely,” he said. “Any Scottish player who’s playing well at the moment, which Tony certainly is, should be in contention. There’s a long list of Scottish players but if you’re Scottish and scoring goals in a team that’s doing reasonably well in the Premiership then you’ve got to be thinking along those lines.

“I know Tony has that ambition and that’s great because I want players who are motivated, whatever that motivation is. He’s shown that in his performances over the last five or six matches and he’s added goals to his game. If you want that sort of recognition then, as a forward, you need to have that end product to make the manager believe you can help the team win.

“At the end of the day, it’s about believing that a player can help you win a game of football. Tony’s ability and his current record would mean he comes into that group of players but no way am I telling Steve Clarke how to pick his squad.”

Watt’s only previous cap came as a late substitute in a 1-0 friendly win over the Czech Republic in March 2016 but a stellar performance against former club Celtic today would enhance his prospects of improving that tally. Alexander, though, believes that Clarke will be more inclined to look at the bigger picture.

“It’s not just one stand-out performance that’s highlighted him: he’s been consistently excellent since he’s come back into the team and that’s where trust is built between managers and players,” he said. “You know what you’re going to get as a minimum, not a maximum.

“Every player is capable of one-off brilliant performances, it’s more ‘What’s his minimum?’ And if it never goes below a certain standard then that player can help us. For me, that’s what Tony’s managed to achieve over the past two months.

“If a player’s intelligent enough, the penny eventually drops about what he’s about and what his career’s about.

“I left Tony out of the team earlier in the season because I didn’t think he was up to the level where he needed to be but I made it clear to him that I wanted him to stay at this club to help us achieve things. I stressed what the team needed from him – not me, but the team – and, to be fair, he knuckled down and did that.”