Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson aims to cook up a result against Livingston by digging out last season’s recipe for success.
The Fir Park side had a September to forget as they mustered just one win before racking up three straight Ladbrokes Premiership defeats.
Their hopes of replicating last season’s run to two finals were then blown apart when they crashed out of the Betfred Cup to Hearts.
That miserable month has left them perched just a point above basement boys Dundee but Robinson believes he has a solution ahead of Saturday’s visit of Livi.
“There are a lot of things we can do better but there is a positivity around the place because we know we’re not far away,” he insisted.
“We’ve had to chop and change because of injuries and move people out of position. Because of that, we’ve maybe taken a bit of that solidity out of our team.
“So we’ve spoken this week about getting back to the team and personnel that took us to two cup finals last season.
“We need to get back to keeping clean sheets but so far this season the personnel we’ve had to move out of position has affected that.
“But I feel tomorrow we’re getting back to the bodies we were able to put on the pitch last season.
“Straight away that will give everyone a lift. Our luck will start to change if we keep working hard.”
Newly-promoted Livi have proved to be this season’s surprise package.
Gary Holt’s side are joint-second after Sunday’s stunning win over Rangers and Robinson admits his troops welcome the Lions to Lanarkshire as underdogs.
“They probably go in as favourites with where they sit in the league table,” he admitted.
“Everyone is quite surprised but they are not surprised and why should they be? They are getting results by playing to their strengths.
“I hear everyone saying all the time ‘you’ve got to play a certain way’.
“But you play to what your personnel is and what your budget allows you to do. Livingston have done that and credit to them.
“After we beat them in the cup, our boys came in and said it was one of the hardest games they’ve played in as Livi have a never-say-die attitude.
“We have to match that again and we will.”
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Newport, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '094a887b-9ea3-49be-9571-34df95c9f47e');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Stephen Robinson hopes Motherwell bounce back after September struggles'});
