McHugh is in no doubt Motherwell are fired up

IF the predicament Motherwell currently find themselves in is depressingly familiar, there is some comfort to be had in the fact that so many have already come out the other side of this dark tunnel.

Sitting just three points above Inverness Caley and Hamilton, parallels with the Lanarkshire club being dragged into the play-offs two years ago are not too hard to find.

Although that particular story at least had a happy ending, no-one within the confines of Fir Park is looking for a reprisal. Closing the book on the campaign after 38 regulation games, with 10th place or better secured, would do nicely.

A packed Ibrox today is hardly the venue of choice for a side seeking to avoid sliding to the bottom of the pile come 4.45pm.

For Carl McHugh, however, anyone questioning if Motherwell have the character to dig themselves out of this hole will soon be given an emphatic answer.

‘When you are up against it you find out a lot about yourself. There is no hiding place,’ said the Irishman. ‘You soon find out who’s up for it and what characters you have.

‘When I look around our changing room there are people who are up for the fight. No one is shirking it or pulling out of training. Everyone is up for it and will do all they can to get us out of this position.

‘We don’t want to be back in the play-offs again. The players who were there then will use it as a motivation.

‘Even though they are positive memories to look back on, the few weeks around the game were horrible. They don’t want to be back in that position.’

While a wretched record in the league at Ibrox stretches back 20 years, Motherwell have no reason to alight from the team bus believing the result is already a forgone conclusion.

The three games to date under the tutelage of Steve Robinson have been a curious old mix. They were the better side at home to St Johnstone last time out, yet lost. An injury-time goal beat them at Pittodrie. And, curiously, their poorest display of the lot brought them three points at Kilmarnock.

‘The last three performances in the main have been positive,’ added McHugh. ‘Kilmarnock was the worst we’ve played and we won it. That’s football.

‘There’s definitely been a real togetherness. We know we are in a scrap and have to dig our way out of it.

‘We have nine massive games — nine cup finals — and we are ready for them.

‘We’ve three games in a week coming up, so it’s a vital stage of the season for us.’