Lamie eyeing Europe after convincing win
HEARTS arrived at Fir Park looking for the victory which would have underlined their title credentials while putting pressure on league leaders Rangers and dropping Celtic into third place. To say it did not go to plan would be something of an understatement.
The narrative changed as a consequence of this emphatic 2-0 win by the home side while Hearts have now won only one of their last six matches, which is hardly championship form.
If they are looking for a way in which to effect a reversal of their fortunes (and they surely must be) then they could do worse than study the application shown by their opponents on Saturday.
Only three weeks ago Motherwell had concluded a five-game winless sequence with a dismal display in a 6-1 home defeat by Rangers. Since then they have won convincingly at Aberdeen and this victory was even more comprehensive.
Indeed, such is the confidence coursing through the veins of Graham Alexander’s players that defender Ricki Lamie, who scored their second goal with a deft header from a Sean Goss free-kick after Connor Shields had put them ahead, is now contemplating a return to European football. “That’s it exactly!” he said. “You’ve got to aim high, especially at this time of the year. Games are coming thick and fast and, if you can keep on picking up three points, then you’re going to be there or thereabouts.
“It’s a very busy schedule before the winter break so we need to keep this form and these energy levels up. We were missing a few players today but it’s good to see our squad rotation working.
“We won at Pittodrie just before the international break and it would have been easy for us to have become a bit complacent during that fortnight. But we worked hard right through it and I think we put on an even better performance against Hearts.
“The weather’s starting to change and the pitches will get heavier and suspensions and injuries will start to mount up, which is why we want to get as many points as we can right now. We need to show consistency.”