Motherwell are in back action after two devilishly difficult encounters post-Christmas when they go to Tynecastle to face Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Thursday.
Stuart Kettlewell's side were given the unenviable task of facing both Old Firm clubs in the space of three days, but now face a Hearts side who ended the year in dismal fashion.
Match preview
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Hearts' dreadful December came to its crescendo with another late collapse away to Ross County at the weekend.
Leading 2-0 heading into the 97th minute, Neil Critchley's men inexplicably conspired to throw two points away, only drawing 2-2 after two very late County goals.
That came just days after losing the Edinburgh derby at home to bitter rivals Hibernian on Boxing Day, not long after an embarrassing exit in Europe.
Another late equaliser saw them drop points to Petrocub in the Conference League and dumped them out of Europe, meaning Hearts' only focus now will be on surviving the drop, with the gap to the top six now 10 points.
Shortly before Christmas, Hearts did manage a win over St Johnstone, but that is just one of two wins Critchley's men have managed in 12 games across all competitions, and to make matters worse, they are having to watch rivals Hibs surge away from them in the table after five wins in six.
Hearts are fortunate that St Johnstone have been equally as disappointing, but the gap is still only three points to the side currently propping up the standings.
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Motherwell will have been fearful of making an awful ending to 2024, being paired with Celtic and Rangers for their final two games of the year, and even though they were thrashed by the league leaders, they made up for that with a performance to be proud of against Philippe Clement's side at the weekend.
Kettlewell's men will feel as though they should have won too, considering they led 2-0 at half time, and had a dubious decision go against them when Jack Butland scored an own goal which was eventually disallowed.
Eventually, Rangers fought back to draw 2-2, but that does mean the Celtic result is Motherwell's only defeat in five games, keeping them inside the top six for the start of the new year.
With Hearts and Aberdeen, two of the most demoralised teams in the division, up next, the visitors will hope for results in both, especially considering they have Hibs breathing down their neck.
Team News
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Hearts will have Cammy Devlin available again after suspension, but remain without the injured defensive trio of Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley and Gerald Taylor.
The magnitude of Hearts' demise since last season is most illustrated by the fact they are now often relying on 17-year-old James Wilson to provide the goods in attack.
Wilson has scored four Premiership goals this season despite only making four starts after bagging a brace at the weekend, and he also netted a very important goal against Petrocub, despite the result eventually not going in their favour.
Motherwell's top scorer Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was able to shrug off a minor injury concern to start and score again at the weekend against Rangers, firing home his fourth goal in six games.
Liam Gordon was also able to start after sitting out the defeat at Celtic, and captain Paul McGinn was back in the squad at the weekend, but Ross Callachan, Jack Vale, Callum Slattery, Zach Robinson and Steve Seddon all remain out.
There was a debut for summer signing Tom Sparrow off the bench at the weekend, shrugging off an injury-hit start to the campaign to feature after moving from Stoke City.
Hearts possible starting lineup:
C Gordon; Forrester, Oyegoke, Rowles, Penrice; Devlin, Baningime; Drammeh, Shankland, Spittal; J Wilson
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; L Gordon, McGinn, Blaney; Kaleta, Paton, Halliday, E Wilson; Miller, Stamatelopoulos, Maswanhise
We say: Hearts 1-2 Motherwell
After seemingly recovering from a woeful start, Hearts have slipped back into a rut, with bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone the only team they have managed to beat in six games.
Motherwell will be keen to show what they can do against similar-level opponents after giving Rangers a very tough afternoon at the weekend, and with the form of Stamatelopoulos, goals are almost assured against a leaky Hearts defence.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
