Motherwell

Watch the best of the action as Dundee United and Motherwell draw 1-1 at Tannadice. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views after Motherwell made it three games unbeaten with a 1-1 draw at Dundee United.

Here's what some of you said:

Alan: This draw helps in the consistency of providing entertaining but productive football by giving us much-needed points. We are creating chances and our goalkeeper's saves are welcomed. An all-round good effort away from home.

Barry: A great game with both teams playing attractive football. Disappointed not to come away with three points but I think a draw was the fair result. Should've been more goals in the game if both teams were more clinical. It's been much more promising under Alfred Johansson these past three games, hopefully this continues!

Bill: Well-earned point. Great to go into the international break on a more positive run of results.

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Jesse Randall's stunning backheel preserved Dundee United's unbeaten run in a mesmerising 1-1 draw with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

Read the match report here

Have your say on the match here

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson tells BBC Scotland: "It was a very open game and both teams could have scored at least two goals more, I understand it was very exciting, I think we coped very well with that kind of game as that kind of chaotic up and down game doesn't suit us well, but we didn't manage to control the game as much as we wanted, so we had to put the running shoes on.

"There was a lot of good attacking football, but it was a little bit too much 100 kilometres per hour for my taste, but it must've been a pleasure to be in the stadium tonight.

"I haven't seen [the penalty] on video afterwards, what I seen was that I felt it was not offside, but the actual duel I will have to see close-up to say something.

"We are an attacking-minded team, we wanted to score the second goal. I asked the players to go again and that's why it is so open.

"From my perspective, our contribution to that chaotic game is that we have a lot of offensive transitions where we have to be more clever on the ball. It's a lot of running back and forward and we can be a little bit more clever at times."

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Dundee United attacker Neil Farrugia is ruled out with a groin strain while Mehdi Merghem returns after a knee injury.

Will Ferry and Emmanuel Agyei are on the sidelines with knee injuries.

Motherwell are unchanged with Alex Lowry (knee), Dylan Williams (hamstring) and Johnny Koutroumbis (muscle) still out.

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Fit-again striker Callum Hendry aims to be a key player on and off the park for Motherwell.

Hendry made his first appearance of the season in last Saturday's 1-0 win over St Mirren following knee surgery, having come back from a four-month lay-off in April last season.

Speaking before Saturday's trip to face Dundee United, the 28-year-old said: "I sorted out the double hernia and then playing and training consistently probably covered the injury that I had.

"At the start of summer I started running again and I had really bad, really angry tendonitis, so it just needed fixing. I got the operation and I feel good now and hopefully I can put it behind me.

"I'm very optimistic. The more minutes I get, the fitter I'll get, the sharper I'll get. And I've seen that the team's creating a lot of chances."

Hendry, Paul McGinn and Oscar Priestman all returned off the bench against Saints.

"I've actually felt like there's a bit of a glow around training having us back, because it's such a tight-knit group," Hendry said. "It was just nice for us all to come back for the same game, and win it.

"The culture hasn't changed, which I think is important, because we created such a good culture last year and we've kept it somehow, which is quite rare for such an overhaul of players.

"There's a few younger lads in there, different changing room really, but still got the same feel to it. The boys are still close.

"It's important that you stick together. They have had to stick together through some tough results the last couple of months where they haven't really deserved them.

"I've had a few boys speak to me and ask me for advice, more this time than the last few seasons.

"I still feel 21, but my body tells me different sometimes. But it's nice to be that guy because I always leaned on the older pros when I was younger."

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Former Motherwell and Dundee forward Henrik Ojamaa has announced his retirement after a near 20-year professional career.

Ojaama, 35, spent 18 months at Motherwell from January 2012 and returned in summer 2014 for a half-season loan from Legia Warsaw.

Across both spells he made 85 appearances for the Fir Park club, scoring 17 goals and providing 25 assists.

The well-travelled Estonia international had a stint on loan at Dundee in 2017, where he played 14 games before returning to Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles.

After over 500 club matches and 63 Estonia caps, he will play the final game of his career for Piede in his homeland on Saturday.

"It's time for me to call a day on my professional football career," Ojamaa said.

"After almost 20 years since I signed my first contract, my body is finally telling me that it's time.

"It's been an amazing journey, it really had it all. I'm really grateful for the experience, all the clubs I played at, the fans, the staff and the coaches, I'm very grateful for all their support in good and bad."

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Alfred Johansson says Motherwell will have to "find an edge elsewhere" in their game as opponents catch up with their passing style.

Well are second only to Celtic in attempted passes and passing accuracy in the Premiership this season as they continue the brand of football introduced by Johansson's predecessor, Jens Berthel Askou, last summer.

But Johansson cited recent statistics that showed passes per Premiership game had increased by more than 100 to close to 900 from four seasons ago to this campaign, while passing accuracy was up from 74% to more than 80% and long passes had reduced by around a quarter.

"I saw some statistics a couple of weeks ago, how much higher the amount of passes in the Scottish football games are this season, compared only with last season," said the Fir Park manager.

"There was also a comparison over a five-year period, and the amount of passes has increased a lot. And it was also a big step from last season to how this season has started.

"The game is moving in that direction, which I guess is natural. I mean, that's how the trend has been in the rest of European football for quite some time."

Dundee United, who host Johansson's side on Saturday, have adopted a more attack-minded passing brand of football this season and are unbeaten in six since losing at Fir Park.

Motherwell's 1-0 win over St Mirren last weekend was their first victory in eight games and Johansson says Motherwell's style of play will not give them an inherent advantage.

"It was very different from many of the other teams (last season) and that then gave Motherwell an edge because they were very early," the Swede said.

"Whereas this season, it's more teams trying to, maybe not play in the exact same way, but at least have more passes than they had in the past.

"So if that is the case, that's not going to be the one thing that's going to be the difference between the teams.

"So I guess that style of play will not be the thing that separates the winner from loser. I think you're going to have to be finding an edge elsewhere for how good you are with and without the ball.

"You need to be good on your basics. Making minor adaptations to an opponent is always going to be there, but it's going to be minor changes."

• Dundee United are unbeaten in six Scottish Premiership games (W3 D3), with only Rangers (9) on a longer run. It is the Tannadice club's longest sequence in the competition since October 2021 when they went seven without defeat.

• In four league games against Motherwell since the start of last season, Dundee United have failed to score at all (D1 L3), attempting 30 shots without success.

• Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise, top scorer in last season's Scottish Premiership with 17 goals, has netted just twice from 5.1 xG in this season's competition - the biggest xG underperformance of any player (-3.1).

• Motherwell have won six of their past eight league games against Dundee United (D1 L1), including both in 2026 so far.

• After their 1-0 win over St Mirren, Motherwell are looking for back-to-back league victories for the first time this season.

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Sheffield United are keen on Motherwell left-back Emmanuel Longelo and may bid for the 25-year-old in January. (Alan Nixon on Patreon - subscription required, external)

Motherwell end their long wait for a win with a narrow victory over St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership (UK only).

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Midfielder Lukas Fadinger says Motherwell have "suffered a lot recently" after picking up their first win in almost two months.

With the game goalless Motherwell were awarded a late penalty against St Mirren in Saturday's Premiership clash, which Fadinger duly converted to ultimately secure all three points for Alfred Johansson's side.

It was their first victory since mid-September having gone without a win in their previous seven.

And Fadinger, who returned to the starting line-up for yesterday's game, was delighted with the win.

"It was a big relief for everyone," he told BBC Scotland.

"Such an important goal and I think we deserved it. In the end it's a win, and we're really happy with it. It's been a long time, we've suffered a lot recently but I think you could see in the last couple of games that our performance was improving so everyone was just relieved and proud of ourselves."

The win lifted Motherwell up to ninth in the table, two points behind yesterday's opponents St Mirren.

But Fadinger says Motherwell's sights are set higher than the bottom end of the league.

"We need to get out of the bottom half of the table and take it from game to game," he added.

"We want to win every single game and then we'll see."

Motherwell fans, we asked for your views after Saturday's victory over St Mirren ended the club's seven game winless run.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Sinky: A home win and clean sheet on the back of an away draw, plus players coming back from injury. Things are looking much more positive but we need to be a bit more clinical in the final third to ensure we earn the points. Well done to Alfred Johansson and the team, let's start looking at catching the teams above us now.

Glyn: Better all round performance but still areas to improve, namely finishing. Better defensively, although some instances where a quicker pass was on but we chose to turn and play a more negative pass. Big difference in midfield with the introduction of Oscar Priestman, he has been missed.

James: A deserved victory but a very hard one. Again the missed chances nearly cost us, we should have won by more than 1-0. St Mirren were very poor and came for the draw. Hopefully this is a start of a run of results.

Archie: Delighted with the win but it was achieved the hard way. We're guilty of over-elaborating in the box and squandering clear cut chances.

Gary: Great to get a win and deserved it. Seeing Priestman, Paul McGinn and Callum Hendry return also gives us close to a fully fit squad which is also important. Great for team but also for Johansson.

Stuart: When the passing is faster, we look good and create chances. With better finishing more results will come

Lukas Fadinger's penalty helped Motherwell to a first Scottish Premiership win in almost two months despite missing a glut of chances against St Mirren.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "I think very similar to how the last couple of games have been, I think we played very well.

"Big credit to the players because you could maybe sense in the last 20 minutes that it could maybe be the same story all over again because we created a lot of chances, which we didn't convert. We kept on going and scored in the 82nd minute, so massive credit to the players.

"I don't think we converted enough from our chances. We missed four big chances so we need to keep working on that. We kept a clean sheet and also limited St Mirren to a very low amount of chances.

"We were doing very well with regards to competing in our own box and that has probably been the most important thing, to stop conceding easy goals, and today I think we defended very well.

"When the goals come, the goals will come.

"We will continue to develop the group, that's the most important thing because that's what's going to bring us results over time.

"I do believe in this group and I think they have shown lately that they do believe in themselves. We need to improve, that's the most important thing, and then we'll get the points we deserve over time."

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Motherwell could have Oscar Priestman, Paul McGinn and Callum Hendry back. Dylan Williams (hamstring), Alex Lowry (knee) and Johnny Koutroumbis (muscle) remain out.

Ismeal Kabia has been added to St Mirren's injury list with a calf tear. Nikolas Agrafiotis (calf), Keanu Baccus (Achilles), Malik Dijksteel (hamstring) and Jonah Ayunga (knee) remain out.

• Motherwell have lost their past three home league games without scoring; they last lost four in a row in November 2022 while they haven't gone four league matches at Fir Park without scoring since December 2020.

• Since his first season in the Scottish Premiership in 2024-25, only Daizen Maeda (30), Lawrence Shankland (27) and Martin Boyle (26) have scored more goals than Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise (25), while he's netted in each of his past three league games against St Mirren.

• Only Aberdeen (16) have lost more away games in the Premiership since the start of last season than St Mirren (15), who could lose four in a row for the first time since December 2023 (run of six).

• Motherwell are unbeaten in nine league meetings with St Mirren (W4 D5), keeping a clean sheet in three of their past four.

• St Mirren have won just one of their latest nine league visits to Motherwell (D3 L5), a 1-0 triumph in September 2023.

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Motherwell are set to be bolstered by the return from injury of three experienced players as they seek a first win in eight games.

Oscar Priestman, a major miss since he was injured after a six-match unbeaten start to the season, could be back for the Premiership visit of St Mirren on Saturday after a calf problem.

Club captain Paul McGinn and striker Callum Hendry may also feature for the first time since summer knee surgery.

Manager Alfred Johansson said: "All of these names will be assessed but it looks like Oscar Priestman, Callum Hendry and Paul McGinn could be available for selection if everything goes well.

"Oscar Priestman, he definitely has more victories than losses under his belt this season, so I would say that he's been a pretty important player for the team.

"So that's obviously a big thing for us, and the two other players that we mentioned, you just have to look at their track record and their careers to understand the quality they have.

"Of course, we have to understand the context of them being available for selection, they don't have many minutes in them and it's going to be a question now over the coming month probably to build them up in terms of game time.

"So we don't get all overexcited here now thinking that they're going to start games very soon."

The experience will be welcome with Motherwell on a run of one win in 12 matches, having halted their six-match losing streak with a 2-2 midweek draw at St Johnstone where Josh Campbell headed an injury-time equaliser for the hosts.

Johansson revealed after the game there had been "fire" in the dressing room as players debated the late goal.

The Swede said: "The fact you take that step as a group where people really feel that they have the liberty to express their emotion without being afraid of someone getting hurt, you can release a lot of emotion, you can release a lot of energy and a lot of trust. So I think that's positive.

"If we would have been up 3-1 at the time and then you end up winning 3-2, still I would be speaking to them about this after the game, that we do not want to be a team that concedes the kinds of goals that we have.

"We need to learn to be pragmatic and cynical enough to close a situation like that."

We asked for your opinions after Motherwell's winless run extended to seven games with a 2-2 draw against St Johnstone.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Matthew: Everything about this team suggests relegation.

Crawford: We dominated the game from the outset then lost an avoidable goal, but we didn't buckle and improved noticeably with the introduction of Lukas Fadinger and Kanga. Hopefully Tawanda Maswanhise can press on now but we still lack depth in central defence and we're paying the price every game.

Taylor: Must-win game and of course we lose an equaliser at the death, yet again with some poor defending. Alfred Johansson is severely out his depth and taking a football club which experienced joy last season and turning us into a fan base that are now dreading games. I decided not to attend the game and won't be attending forthcoming away games while Johansson is still at the helm.

Del: No disrespect to St Johnstone but they are the type of team we should be beating. Performance wise, most of it was pretty decent and we dominated for large spells. Once again, shocking defending from bang-average players who can't jump is our undoing. I also have to question why we take Maswanhise off to put on a central defender? We should be keeping all our main attacking threats on the pitch and going for more goals. The St Mirren game is huge and must win on Saturday now.

Stuart: A real gut punch. We play good football but don't capitalise when on top. We sit back late on when we know we can't defend high balls into the box and if you don't then stop the crosses at source your luck will eventually run out. As always with Motherwell, it's the hope that kills you.

Watch the best of the action as St Johnstone deny Motherwell a first win in seven games in the Scottish Premiership. Available to UK users only.

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "It's an extremely sore end to the game.

"Obviously, it's very, very tough given the fact that I think we played quite a good game. To finish it off like that is very tough, it feels like the story of our performances recently.

"It would've been very easy given the circumstances to just drop dead after St Johnstone's goal, but we definitely don't do that and that's why I think at some point this group of players are going to get rewarded. We just need to learn from this.

"I think we start the game really well. In the first half we create chances that we don't capitalise on. After they score we have 5, 10 minutes where we need to reset mentally after that. I think we started the second half really, really well and in that period, I feel we should capitalise more and take more of our chances. It's very, very painful at the end.

"Hopefully a little bit further down the line we can see that this is the change of this negative trend and that we cracked on from there, but tonight it's painful. I think we deserved more today but once again I'd say we need to grow up and learn how to deal with these situations."