Motherwell

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Aberdeen midfielder Alexander Briedl has delayed hooking up with former team-mate Martin Moormann, telling the Motherwell centre-back they will have to meet first on Tuesday "but not as friends".

The Austrian pair played together for Blau-Weiss Linz but left this summer after they were relegated after finishing bottom of their homeland's Bundesliga.

Now the compatriots will be reunited as the Dons visit Fir Park in the Scottish Premiership on Tuesday.

Briedl said of his friend: "Yeah, I still speak to him sometimes. This week, but not about the game.

"Because we were staying in a hotel close to Glasgow, he asked if we could meet up, but it was difficult on Saturday.

"I said to him, 'we'll see each other on Tuesday. But not as friends'."

Meanwhile, Briedl hopes Sunday's Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, when they defeated Kilmarnock on penalties after drawing 1-1 at Rugby Park despite being down to 10 men, will ease the pressure after ending a three-game wait for a victory.

"It will be a tough game, but I think after Saturday we want to stay in the flow and take this to the next games, for the upcoming games before the international break," the 24-year-old added.

"I think there is no pressure for us. We've got a new team with a lot of new players.

"We have to find each other and I think Saturday's win is also a turnaround for all of us, hopefully. It could be very important."

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The "big positive" of a free week has helped align Motherwell's new-look squad with the club's principles, says assistant coach Max Rogers.

An attempt to qualify for the Conference League meant the Fir Park side were playing three games a week for much of the start of their season.

Despite that, Alfred Johansson's men have still been able to collect eight points from their opening five league matches.

After a 1-0 loss at Rangers last time out, Motherwell have had nine days to recover and train before Tuesday's visit of Aberdeen.

"It was obviously such a hectic start, an enjoyable one with the European games and one that we all wanted," Rogers said. "But with that free week, we had plenty of time to rest and train.

"A lot of the new players hadn't even had a chance to fully train with us, so they weren't really aligned to the principles and how we want to play.

"But now we've been able to introduce that to them, so that's obviously a big positive, and we have prepared really well for this game."

Rogers formed a close working relationship with Jens Berthel Askou last season without previously meeting the Dane and is now striking up a bond with Swede Johansson.

He added: "First and foremost, the club obviously recruited the manager because he had the same philosophy and beliefs as the previous manager.

"So that continuation is relatively straightforward. And then in terms of our work, we know what the style of play is, the principles.

"Obviously, the players who remained from last season help massively as well, especially the senior players. So we've obviously all helped with the process.

"And the manager has been really good in terms of not wanting to change too much and not being sort of insecure, in a sense, of coming in and thinking he needed to stamp his own authority.

"He's been really good at trying to learn from what we did last year, while also adding his beliefs and demands to it as well."

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• Only Benjamin Nygren (21) and Djeidi Gassama (13) have created more chances in the Scottish Premiership this season than Motherwell's Emmanuel Longelo (11), who also ranks joint-third for big chances created (four) and third for expected assists (1.5).

• Aberdeen have failed to score in each of their past four league games. Indeed, since the start of 2025-26, the Dons have drawn a blank in a Scottish Premiership-high 20 matches.

• Motherwell, who are yet to concede at home in the Scottish Premiership this season, have kept 14 clean sheets at Fir Park since the start of last season in the competition - the most at home of any side.

• Aberdeen have lost three of their past five Scottish Premiership games against Motherwell and could lose successive league meetings with the Steelmen for the first time since November 2021.

• Motherwell have won each of their past three home league games against Aberdeen, as many as across their previous 16 beforehand.

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Striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has left Motherwell by mutual consent to "pursue opportunities elsewhere".

The Australian forward arrived at Fir Park two years ago from Newcastle Jets and scored 12 goals in 45 games during an injury-hit stint in Scotland.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank the fans," said the 27-year-old striker, who spent the second half of last term on loan with Sydney FC in his homeland.

"Everyone associated with the club welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home. The fans, staff and players have all been amazing during my stay in Scotland.

"This is football, and it's the right time for me to move on."

Former Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou has refused to be drawn on whether he was offered the Celtic job before joining Toulouse in May. (Open Goal, external via Scottish Sun, external)

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

Watch all the highlights as Ryan Naderi helped Rangers to a narrow victory at home to Motherwell. Available to UK users only.

Motherwell fans, we asked for your opinions on the 1-0 loss to Rangers on Saturday. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

David: All that dominant possession at Ibrox, against a poor Rangers team, but very few attempts on goal. Ultimately something has to give.

Edward: Rangers were there for the taking. For whatever reason we didn't turn up. Such a chance wasted.

Colin: A poor performance today, we did not deserve anything from the game and really were lucky with the low scoreline. No cutting edge. Every forward who started or came on were poor. We definitely have a problem coping with cross balls into the box, too.

Roberts: Poor. Having seen us go to Ibrox recently and take wins, this was frustrating. I'm not saying we're a bad team, but there's just something about our performances, compared to last season, that's not good.

There's a vulnerability now, and Stenny were able to exploit it, never mind Rangers. An up-and-down season beckons.

Rangers made it three Scottish Premiership wins in a row as Ryan Naderi pounced on a mistake by Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to score the only goal of the game at Ibrox.

MATCH REPORT

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "They were better than us today, they deserved the three points.

"The main reason for the result today is two things - we have a very, very, very, very good keeper that keeps the scored down today, that's one; the second is that we don't play up to our best today.

"If you want to come to Ibrox and get a result, you need to perform at your best and we need to learn from that.

"You never want to concede a goal, it doesn't matter how it happens. The fact that it's only 1-0, is thanks to Alex Paulsen. It doesn't matter if you're a keeper, centre-back, full-back six, 10 winger or nine, you're going to make mistakes because it's not easy to play in that way always.

"We have 150, 180 passes more than Rangers today. The chance of making a mistake in that passing situation is higher for us. Obviously, that can happen."

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Deadline-day signings Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy and Algeria winger Badredine Bouanani go straight into the Rangers squad.

Midfielder Dan Neil and defender Dujon Sterling return after missing the midweek win at Falkirk.

Left-back Tuur Rommens will return to full training in between the two upcoming Celtic games after recovering from a groin problem, while striker Youssef Chermiti is out long term with an ACL injury.

Motherwell remain without Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman (calf), Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry (both knee) and Jordan McGhee (hamstring).

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• Rangers' Lawrence Shankland has scored 10 Scottish Premiership goals against Motherwell, his most against a single opponent. Shankland has three goals in his last two league appearances, including a brace against Falkirk last time out.

• Motherwell have scored eight goals in four Scottish Premiership games this season, their most at this stage of a campaign since 2019-20 (also eight), last scoring more after four league games in 2005-06 (10).

• Rangers have lost each of their last three home league games, including one against Motherwell in April (2-3). Never in their history have the Gers suffered four successive home league defeats.

• After their 3-2 win at Ibrox in April, Motherwell could enjoy successive league victories over Rangers for the first time since April 1960. The Steelmen have won three of their last five away league games at Rangers (L2), as many as their previous 59 beforehand (W3 D7 L49), and could win successive visits for the first time in their league history at the 143rd attempt.

• Rangers have only won one of their last six league meetings with Motherwell (D3 L2), a 1-0 victory in December 2025.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Being "humble" and "confident" is Motherwell's mantra as they had to Ibrox on Saturday hoping for a unique quadruple.

The Steelmen go to Govan aiming to get a victory there for the fourth season on the spin, quite the feat considering their previous league win prior to that run came in 1997.

Now under the stewardship of Alfred Johansson, the Swede's side actually sit above Rangers in the Scottish Premiership standings at this early stage, having played one game less.

"I think it's a big task for us, it's a massive task to go there, last year I believe it's one victory and one loss, but two good performances last year there," he said.

"I think we played well away against Hibss, but we could have lost anyways, this is football right?

"So I think what I expect is that we go there with a strong mentality and with a big confidence, humble, humble as ever before, but confident, and if we focus on doing what we have to do in the pitch then we're going to have to see after when we shake hands how the result is ending right?

"But I want to try to keep on maintaining and developing the style of play and building on the relationships and doing it with being humble and confident."

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson has been speaking to the media at Fir Park on Friday as his team prepares to go to Ibrox to face Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

Here's the key points from him:

• Delighted with a quiet end to the transfer window and not to lose any players

• The squad now has depth to it, but there could also be some young players still to go out on loan for more minutes

• Motherwell will go to Ibrox with "a big confidence" but will also be humble

• When asked about the Scottish FA's summit at St Andrews on Friday, Johansson said he does not feel Scottish football brings through the amount of talent to first teams that it should have

• The squad will be the same as it was for the 3-0 victory over Dundee United from midweek

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Motherwell midfielder Olly Whyte has joined Championship outfit Ayr United on loan until the end of the 2026/27 campaign.

The 19-year-old spent last season on loan in the Scottish second tier with Stenhousemuir and will re-join Gary Naysmith at his new side Ayr.

Whyte made his senior debut earlier this season against HB Torshavn in Motherwell's Conference League qualifier and has played a further seven games under new manager Alfred Johansson.

"I want to wish Olly the very best for the season ahead," Johansson said.

"This move represents the opportunity for him to go up a level from last year and, hopefully, feature regularly. We hope he is able to continue his development underneath with a manager he worked with last year and achieved great things with.

"We'll be monitoring his progress closely."

Motherwell fans, we asked for your views after Wednesday night's 3-0 win against Dundee United at Fir Park.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Crawford: Playing against 10 men can be challenging but we kept the ball well and recycled it when called for. Impressed by our work-rate in midfield and delighted to see debutants scoring. A good night at Fir Park, the future looks to be in capable hands.

Alan: The manager's new acquisitions are performing very well and are helping the team to gel in becoming a force to reckon with in Scottish football. The three goals scored by Seb Palmer-Houlden, Alex Lowry and Dylan Levitt bodes well for the future. Having played four games in the league without defeat is a solid start to our campaign.

David: More debutant goals and a midfield that look to be saying Elijah Just who? Almost 30 attempts at goal and a clean sheet. Go the Steelmen.

James: Fantastic result a great team display. Keep it up and we are a top six side.

Watch all the highlights as Motherwell beat 10-man Dundee United 3-0 at Fir Park after an early red card for the visitors. Available to UK users only.

Dylan Levitt's debut goal helped classy Motherwell end their four-game winless run with a comfortable Scottish Premiership victory against 10-man Dundee United.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson tells BBC Scotland: "It was a good performance today, we felt last week how it is to play with a red card, and [tonight] the opponent had to do it and I felt we dealt really well with that scenario and I'm proud of my players.

"We had huge chances in the first half to make it 2-0 early. It would have changed how the game was, and when they have one dangerous counter attack, it could be 1-1.

"We kept the focus today, and that's something we felt we didn't do on Sunday, and that's why I'm super proud and happy with my players at how they reacted to that.

[Alex Lowry] is doing really well, and I feel that he's also a player that is taking more responsibility tactically for the team as well, so he's a player I can be very demanding with and it's very good for the team and myself. And congratulations to Seb [Palmer-Houlden] and Dylan [Levitt] on their first goals for the club.

"[Palmer-Houlden] is a player with a lot of energy, he wants to contribute, press and run in behind. We need to help him contain this energy to use it in a smart way, in the right moment. I'm happy for him to get the goal.

"We were talking in the press conference about [Dylan Levitt] and his quality and pedigree, and we are pleased to have him.

It's always important to win, and I think it definitely makes life easier for everyone at the football club so to be able to do that is very good.

"I want to send my personal and also Motherwell's best regards to Jim Goodwin who couldn't be here today. I've heard he's already at home and I hope that he is well."

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Motherwell could hand a debut to former Dundee United midfielder Dylan Levitt against his old club on Wednesday in the Scottish Premiership after his arrival from Leyton Orient.

Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman, Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry and Jordan McGhee remain out through injury.

United could give a debut to Lyall Cameron after the former Dundee midfielder joined on loan from Rangers.

But United boss Jim Goodwin is set to be absent from the dugout again as he recovers from illness, with assistant Lee Sharp taking the reins.

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• When the two sides last met in Premiership action, Motherwell triumphed 2-0 at Fir Park last season. Tawanda Maswanhise scored in the 37th and 46th minute.

• Motherwell are unbeaten in the past three Premiership matches against Dundee United. A win for the Tannadice outfit would be their first against Motherwell in the league since February 2025. During that period, Motherwell have outscored the Tangerines with four goals for and zero against.

• Hosts Motherwell played to a draw in their only previous Premiership contest at Fir Park this season. Well are looking to reverse a five-match Premiership home winless streak dating to March 21 against Hibernian. Dundee United have one win and one loss away from home this season in two league contests.

• In three league matches this season, Motherwell have one win and two draws. Dundee Utd, meanwhile, have one win, one draw, and two losses in four games.

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Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson expects players to leave the club before the end of the transfer window.

Midfielder Dylan Levitt became the Steelmen's 11th summer arrival on Tuesday and Johansson says there will likely be movement in the opposite direction.

"We have a large squad at the moment, but it's also because obviously a couple of players will move on loan, probably," he said.

"We also still have some long-term injuries, so then you're going to have to be a little bit thicker.

"Everything will be clear in the coming weeks. The loan deals you can do a little bit later obviously. Some windows stay open. So every player needs to decide for themselves what they want to do."

Having sold Elijah Just, Elliot Watt and Calum Ward earlier in the summer, there has been speculation linking key players Tawanda Maswanhise and Emmanuel Longelo with moves away from Fir Park in recent days.

"I want all the best players to stay," Johansson said. "But in the end, it's not going to be within my power if it happens.

"I am always focusing on the here and now and everyone is here and everyone is committed. So we'll have to take it if it comes."