3 years ago
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Motherwell caretaker boss Stuart Kettlewell hopes to have one or two players back from injury but will not take any risks.
Joe Efford and Bevis Mugabi have been training following lengthy lay-offs while Shane Blaney, Ricki Lamie, Lennon Miller, Mikael Mandron and Josh Morris have missed recent games.
Jake Carroll and Nathan McGinley are out for the season.
Hearts forward Josh Ginnelly is suspended.
The visitors will otherwise have an unchanged squad. Peter Haring is back in training following a lengthy spell out with concussion but the club will be careful with his progress. Gary Mackay-Steven (foot), Craig Halkett (knee), Craig Gordon (broken leg), Liam Boyce (knee) and Beni Baningime (knee) are long-term absentees.
Motherwell interim manager Stuart Kettlewell: "I need to make this abundantly clear: if the football club felt I could help them and make something better or get results then I would be more than happy to have a conversation.
"That's what it is, I mean a conversation. And it would just be a layer or two on to what I have already had in terms of trying to prepare a team.
"There are no guarantees that would filter out of that, I wouldn't be looking for any guarantees.
"The most important thing for me - and I am not trying to portray myself as the biggest clubman ever - but I want the best for the football club and the staff."
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: "When a manager leaves and someone comes in in the interim, it's going to be different. There will be different ideas coming in.
"I watched them on Wednesday against St Mirren and they changed their shape, went 3-5-2 and a bit more direct in their play, more aggressive, and they got the result. So I would expect them to stick with that.
"When you play against teams that are in that interim basis, you never really know what you are going to get."
Did you know?
Hearts' Lawrence Shankland has scored 17 Premiership goals this season, the most by a Scottish player since Kris Boyd for Rangers in 2017-18 (18).
Choose your starting XI. It's up to you how to approach it - you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.
Choose your starting XI. It's up to you how to approach it - you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.
Line-ups
Motherwell
Formation 3-4-1-2
- 1Kelly
- 16McGinn
- 66Butcher
- 52Casey
- 22Johnston
- 18Cornelius
- 27Goss
- 24Furlong
- 7Spittal
- 99Obika
- 9van Veen
Substitutes
- 2O'Donnell
- 5Mugabi
- 8Slattery
- 12Crankshaw
- 13Oxborough
- 14Danzaki
- 15Aitchison
- 17McKinstry
- 26Tierney
Hearts
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 28Clark
- 72Hill
- 21Sibbick
- 3Kingsley
- 2Smith
- 14Devlin
- 77Snodgrass
- 19Cochrane
- 29Humphrys
- 18McKay
- 9Shankland
Substitutes
- 7Grant
- 8Kiomourtzoglou
- 12Atkinson
- 13Stewart
- 15Rowles
- 16Halliday
- 17Forrest
- 61Kuol
- 88Oda
Live Text
Foul by Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian).
Dean Cornelius (Motherwell) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Calum Butcher (Motherwell) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high following a corner.
Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by Toby Sibbick.
Offside, Motherwell. Kevin van Veen tries a through ball, but Max Johnston is caught offside.
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Max Johnston.
Attempt missed. Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner.
Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Calum Butcher.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
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Motherwell
Squad number1Player nameKelly
Squad number16Player nameMcGinn
Squad number66Player nameButcher
Squad number52Player nameCasey
Squad number22Player nameJohnston
Squad number18Player nameCornelius
Squad number27Player nameGoss
Squad number24Player nameFurlong
Squad number7Player nameSpittal
Squad number99Player nameObika
Squad number9Player namevan Veen
No players have been substituted yet
Heart of Midlothian
Squad number28Player nameClark
Squad number72Player nameHill
Squad number21Player nameSibbick
Squad number3Player nameKingsley
Squad number2Player nameSmith
Squad number14Player nameDevlin
Squad number77Player nameSnodgrass
Squad number19Player nameCochrane
Squad number29Player nameHumphrys
Squad number18Player nameMcKay
Squad number9Player nameShankland
No players have been substituted yet
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