Ciftci: That felt great

Striker Nadir Ciftci said it was great to get a derby Scottish Cup win under his belt in his first game for Motherwell.

And he believes he will only get better as he steps up his fitness.

The former Dundee United hitman, on loan from Celtic, was pleased that he was able to play in the game but didn’t expect to start.

He said:“i enjoyed it. It’s always good to win, especially after a little break, and coming back with a few new faces in the team.

“We worked really hard for this game and as a team the performance was really good.

“It could have been a bit more if we took our chances but I’m really happy with the win for the next round and hopefully we can kick on.

“I feel great. I didn’t really expect straight away to start but I’m really thankful to the boys in the team, to the staff and everyone around me.

“They pushed me through the one-and-a-half weeks to get me into this game, so all the credit goes to them.

“I played just over 60 minutes, so another 40 per cent to go.

“It’s just to do with games. I haven’t played that many game, so I need to get some games under my belt and get the sharpness back – that will only come with games.”

Ciftci admits he was a bit surprised by Hamilton’s own goal but said:“it comes from the boys and that’s what the manager wants – high pressure.”