Watt is bidding to repay Robinson’s show of faith

TONY WATT has his own personal motivation for wanting to shoot Motherwell a step closer to the group stage of the Europa League. Upon leaving CSKA Sofia in February, the much-travelled striker feared he would be cast on to the football scrapheap after turning out for nine teams in the six years since leaving Celtic. Handed a short-term deal by the Steelmen, manager Stephen Robinson challenged Watt to get fully fit. He has duly risen to the challenge. The 26-year-old was outstanding on Sunday as he ran himself into the ground in a 3-0 win against Aberdeen, three days after a penalty shoot-out victory over Coleraine after extratime in the Europa League. Now Watt wants to repay Motherwell and Robinson for turning his career around with a good showing in Thursday night’s one-legged qualifier with Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel. ‘I made a choice to come back home from Bulgaria and I was going to sign anything just to get to play,’ said Watt. ‘But Motherwell have taken me off the scrapheap and given me a chance. ‘I thought the manager would have been a bit softer on me but he made me get to this level of fitness. ‘I feel everything is coming into play more now like my technique because my fitness levels are so high. ‘I don’t think last year any manager would have played me for 120 minutes in Europe and then another 80 minutes within the space of three days. ‘But that just shows the trust the manager has in me. ‘Now I just want to keep repaying him and the club with my performances.’ Watt believes after many false dawns he is ready to fulfil the potential that saw him burst on to the scene at Celtic Park by scoring a Champions League winner against Barcelona in 2012. ‘I think I’ve been ready for a couple of years,’ he said. ‘At St Johnstone, it was a bit of a difficult style of play but I did a job for the team. ‘I did alright in Bulgaria when I did play but I was not happy being second fiddle. ‘I’ve come back and I’ve got myself fit over lockdown — and now it’s time to see Tony Watt and where he goes.’