Moult pleasantly surprised by standard of Scottish football

LOUIS Moult admits he underestimated the standard of Scottish football ahead of his summer move to Motherwell.

Moult arrived from Wrexham after spending most of his career in the Conference, although he started off with Premier League Stoke and had a loan spell at Bradford in League Two.

Motherwell have had a difficult start to the season, with one win against Scottish Cup holders Inverness followed by defeats by Dundee United, Hearts and Aberdeen. Today they take on another side which finished in the top six last season, St Johnstone.

Moult said: “I’ve been really, really surprised if I’m honest. The standard has been fantastic. It reminds me of League One or the Championship, that kind of football, especially the teams we have been playing against lately.

“We have had tough games and I think we have done really well. Especially against Aberdeen, I thought at times we looked really, really good, going forward especially, although I’m going to say that as a striker. But I have been really impressed by the standard.”

Moult netted 49 goals in his last two seasons with Nuneaton and Wrexham but has not really had a clear-cut chance after making two starts and two substitute appearances for Motherwell.

His best game so far was the 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen on Saturday when the Fir Park side played two up front for the first time this season, and the forward believes he can thrive on partnering Scott Mcdonald. “I think it helped us as a team and it helped me as an individual as well,” he added. “If you look at the Hearts game and the Aberdeen game, I think it did help having Scotty a little bit closer to me. We linked up quite well and we created more chances.”

Liam Craig, meanwhile, has praised the spirit of the St Johnstone squad after they fought back well from losing early openers in each of their four Ladbrokes Premiership games so far.

Saints gained points against Inverness and Ross County at home and lost a seven-goal thriller at Hearts after coming back from two down. Craig also saw a goal controversially disallowed in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Dundee, after Steven Maclean was judged to have pushed a defender in the build-up.

The former Hibs captain, back in Perth for a second spell, said: “I definitely think the success the club has had has been built on [team spirit] and the whole squad has played its part. We have shown that spirit in the games and now we want to get that first goal and let other teams chase the game.”