MANDRON OF THE MATCH
Mikael vows to fire Well up table after cup brace
MIKAEL Mandron made himself an instant Scottish Cup hero – and has now vowed to fire Motherwell back up the Premiership table.
The January signing was handed his first Steelmen start at Gayfield and netted a brace to ensure Stevie Hammell’s side avoided an upset and set up a last-16 tie against either Linlithgow Rose of Raith.
It was the struggling side’s first win since October, and now the French striker wants to bring that firepower into their league campaign and to blast them away from a possible relegation dogfight.
Mandron insisted: “I am very aware of the situation and I will do my best to help the team.
“Hopefully, I can use my experience, my energy and give everything on the pitch to help the team. Two goals today is part of what I can bring to the team.
“I don’t really get that feeling of the club being down.
“The lads are great and I get the impression that it is a really good football club that is well run. Everyone is together, getting on and we are going in the right direction.
“Sometimes you need new faces to bring new energy and hopefully I can help do that.”
Mandron only netted four goals for Gillingham this season but he reckons Motherwell will give him more opportunities.
The 28-year-old: “I am always confident I will score. It was a different style at Gillingham. Here we play in a way where we create a load of chances.
“As long as we create chances then I am confident I will score.”
Both sides are at the wrong end of their respective leagues and many people thought Dick Campbell’s team could spring a surprise. They gave it a good go but didn’t cause too many concerns.
Motherwell looked in control after Blair Spittal and Stuart McKinstry set up Mandron to net the opener in 26 minutes.
They got the second deep in stoppage time when sub Kevin van Veen’s back-heel allowed Sean Goss to square for the frontman again. Mandron said: “We are happy with the goals because that is how we want to play – short passes – and if we can play people through then we will do so.
“I think both goals were really good team goals.
“That is what cup competition is all about, smaller teams trying to knock out bigger teams.
“It was up to us to prepare well and approach the game well.
“We didn’t want to give them any kind of positive energy. You must always want to remain in control.
“It is a very tough place to come. The pitch wasn’t easy and they are a decent side. In the end, we are very happy with the way we played.”
Arbroath’s certainly didn’t lack effort and they got in some good positions but their final ball was lacking.
They now need to try and climb away from the bottom of the Championship table. Joao Balde is one of their new signings and he thinks Campbell’s new-look team is coming along nicely.
The former Hibs player claimed: “I keep hearing that it will take a while for us to gel as a team with all our new signings.
“But I think we are already gelling. Even in training the new boys are showing up well.
“It looks like we have been there for a long time. Everyone is friendly and welcoming. They have helped us all settle in.
“I want to stay here, get more experience and start adding more goals to my game.
“I made my debut in Dundee and really enjoyed that game.
“I feel I’ve settled in well and hopefully I can kick on.”
Balde added: “We competed well and can be proud of our efforts but the end product just didn’t work out. That’s something we need to work on.”