Well boss eyes signings after win
linfield 0 Motherwell 3
Long (28), Hartley (47), Carroll (68) Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson hopes to plunder the transfer market this week following contrasting fortunes on their pre-season tour to Northern Ireland.
The Steelmen lost to Crusaders last Wednesday but stormed back to register a comfortable 3-0 win over Irish League Champions Linfield at Windsor Park yesterday.
New striker Chris Long capitalised on a defensive lapse to open the scoring with Paul Hartley and Jake Carroll adding to the scoreline after the break.
Robinson was happy with his team’s fitness levels and may have one or two new players in before Motherwell take on Gretna on Tuesday.
“Results aren’t that important at this stage but our fitness levels were that little bit better”, said the Motherwell manager.
“We are starting to see some good performances, particularly from things we have worked on in training.
“I still think we lack a bit of a killer touch in wide areas, we’re aware that we need to bring two wide players in to give us that little bit of pace and energy in that final third.
“Our back four looks solid, I think our midfield’s good, we’ve got Chris Long in, Danny Johnson in, and we have young James Scott, all centre-forwards, but we definitely need people in wide areas.
“It won’t be easy to do on our budget, and everyone in the bottom half of the SPL is in the same market.
“We’re looking to do some business next week, hopefully we’ll get one in, possibly two, we’ll see what Monday/ Tuesday brings.”
Former Fleetwood striker Long opened the scoring on 28 minutes when he pounced on a poor backpass to round keeper Gareth Deane and slot home from eight yards.
Motherwell doubled their lead two minutes after the break when substitute Peter Hartley directed a Polworth cross past Deane. Left-back Jake Carroll confirmed victory when he swept a 68th minute 20-yard free-kick into the net.