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Motherwell V Heart of Midlothian


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Posted

I can see this one is catching the imagination. 

Hard game for us, Motherwell are in excellent form but we're on a decent run as well and have won at ER and Rugby Park in our last two away games.  Uche back is a massive plus, though it seems to be every time we get someone back someone else drops out with Mitchell and Smith injured now.  I'd be tempted to bring Keena in for MacLean, his confidence must be sky high just now.

I'll go for a scrappy 2-1 win for Hearts.

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Posted

We have a great record against Motherwell in recent years. Good run they're on, though, so f**k knows.

Posted

It's always a pleasure to welcome Salubrious FC.

A scrappy draw will ensue, most likely. 

Posted
36 minutes ago, Elixir said:

We have a great record against Motherwell in recent years. Good run they're on, though, so f**k knows.

Pretty much. 

We've been flying recently, but this will be a big test for the youngsters.  Also, be interesting to see if Robinson sticks with the same XI who've been dispatching the other bottom six sides with ease, or whether we'll see someone like McHugh come in (probably for Gorrin) for a bit of physicality in the middle of the park

Think this will be tight.  1-1 draw.  Turnbull with an early penalty, with Naismith getting the leveller with 15 minutes to go. 

Posted

This is the interesting one for us in terms of how our new style of play and in form youngsters, Hastie et al can perform against an admittedly higher calibre of player, and two of the best centre backs in the league in Berra and Souttar. 

In terms of lineup, it's hard to argue against going with the same team that's won us 5 on the spin. The only change I'd potentially want to see would be McHugh in for Gorrin - for reasons mentioned above by Desp in terms of giving us a bit more steel in the park, and I don't envisage us dictating as much of the play as we have done recently against our fellow bottom six teams. 

Hearts are a good team, and in form themselves I believe? So I wouldn't complain if the game finished a draw and we kept our unbeaten run going. 

Posted
8 minutes ago, ropy said:

Maybe McHugh for one of the wingers to make us more compact

He's been interviewed in the club pre-match stuff - so nailed-on starter :) 

Posted
5 minutes ago, ropy said:

Maybe McHugh for one of the wingers to make us more compact

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

If McHugh is to come in (and it was merely a suggestion on my part, as it would be harsh to change the XI who've been performing so well) then it would be for one of the central midfield three.  Well, when I say one of the three, I mean Gorrin as you can't drop Campbell or Turnbull. 

Ariyibi & Hastie will be big players for us on Sunday.  While I agree with BigTamMuller that Berra & Souttar are two of the top centre-halves in the league, they are now missing their right-back Smith, and correct me if I'm wrong Hearts fans, but is Mitchell the normal left-back?  He's out injured too.  So they'll be looking at their second-choice, at best, full backs.  Get the ball to Hastie & Ariyibi and tell them to run at these guys.  There will be joy to be had. 

Posted

I like McHugh but if we drop big Ally Gorrin to shoehorn him back in the team, just so we can try and ‘win the battle’ then that seems like a massive step backwards to me.

While I felt sorry for McHugh as he was hung out to dry a bit against Ross County, Gorrin has been excellent in that deep role since he came in both in terms of using the ball and protecting the back four. He’s certainly not afraid to put himself about, in fact the only reason Robinson brought him off in Paisley was because he was on a booking and wouldn’t reign it in. 

This will undoubtedly be a much tougher test than anything we’ve faced so far this year but what have we got to lose? Same team again for me, take the game to Hearts and see what happens.

Posted

I can see the argument for bringing McHugh in but really, given the situation with the league ie: we're safe in February and on a 5 match winning run in the league changing the starting XI that's won those games seems a bit daft. If it's not going our way then by all means make changes off the bench but at least start with the side that's been getting results and see where it goes.

The other thing is that you'd hope that starting with the 433 would mean that the 2 wide players can drop in and make a 5 if need be. It'd maybe leave Main a bit isolated but both Hastie and Ariyibi can carry the ball middle to front. For me, keeping the central 3 is essential.

Gillespie
Grimshaw Aldred Dunne Tait
Campbell Gorrin Turnbull
Hastie Main Ariyibi

Given our record against Hearts I'd fully take a draw here. 

Posted
58 minutes ago, Desp said:

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

If McHugh is to come in (and it was merely a suggestion on my part, as it would be harsh to change the XI who've been performing so well) then it would be for one of the central midfield three.  Well, when I say one of the three, I mean Gorrin as you can't drop Campbell or Turnbull. 

Ariyibi & Hastie will be big players for us on Sunday.  While I agree with BigTamMuller that Berra & Souttar are two of the top centre-halves in the league, they are now missing their right-back Smith, and correct me if I'm wrong Hearts fans, but is Mitchell the normal left-back?  He's out injured too.  So they'll be looking at their second-choice, at best, full backs.  Get the ball to Hastie & Ariyibi and tell them to run at these guys.  There will be joy to be had. 

Not really, he's been in and out.  Him and Garuccio have mainly shared the role this season, the last few games have seen Mulraney at wing back as well.

Posted

It’s got to be the same team for us. It’s the most balanced in the middle we’ve been in years. Hopefully McCormack has now shifted enough weight that he can actually make an impact when he comes on.

Posted
20 minutes ago, Gianfranco said:

It’s got to be the same team for us. It’s the most balanced in the middle we’ve been in years. Hopefully McCormack has now shifted enough weight that he can actually make an impact when he comes on.

He's picked up a (minor) calf strain according to the official site. Tbh, it's just as well the Young Team have hit a bit of form and we're not really relying on McCormack actually making an impact now.

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