Unwell Well heroes got us motoring
MOTHERWELL survived a sickness bug and a broken-down bus last week to keep their European dream on course.
They’ve not quite managed to shake the lurgy from the dressing room but Graham Alexander hopes there will be no more bumps in the road as he looks to steer his squad to a top-five finish and a Europa Conference League slot.
Well’s preparations for last week’s win over Ross County were hit when firstteam stars were laid low by illness. The journey up to Dingwall was not without incident either after one of Well’s two team buses clapped out on the A9.
A win at home to Hearts tonight will be enough to book the Steelmen’s Euro spot so long as County don’t win at Ibrox. And Alexander said: “There’s still a couple of other players dealing with the bug now. It’s still difficult for the lads who had it last week.
“A couple of them started the game on Saturday and completed it which was every credit to them.
“Callum Slattery and Kevin van Veen were on the bench but unfortunately a couple of other players picked it up over the weekend and haven’t trained.
“So it’s still lingering unfortunately. We’re just waiting until the last possible minute to see who’s in good shape to run around for 90 minutes or at least for an hour or so. The players came together on Saturday. There had been quite a few off all week.
“We had a separate little minibus for the lads who were ill 20 metres behind the main bus – which broke down – so they got there before us.
“We’re going to have to run hard against Hearts to get a result. We’ll just have to see how they are. All I’m hoping for is that no one else gets it.”
Alexander knew how hard it would have been for those ill players to have to report for duty last weekend but he was delighted by their commitment. He said: “When it comes to the season-defining period we’re at, it adds a little bit more to the pressure but to the motivation as well. You saw from the squad on Saturday the motivation was high and we needed that.
“The victory was down to that spirit.
“We know we have to do a lot of good things defensively and attacking but if you haven’t got that togetherness and motivation you don’t get the rewards.”