Motherwell: Well steel builds bounce-back

Published on Thursday 26 February 2009 09:15

MARC FITZPATRICK insists being written off as "one-hit wonders" earlier in the season has made Motherwell even more determined to clinch European football for a second successive campaign.

Mark McGhee's men claimed the coveted "best of the rest" tag when they finished third behind the Old Firm last year to book a UEFA Cup spot.

Any hope of repeating that feat seemed unlikely this term when a poor start to the season saw the Steelmen languishing at the wrong end of the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League table.

But a decent run of results recently have seen them force their way into the top half of the table.

And Fitzpatrick believes, if they can stay there beyond the split, then there is no reason why Europe should not be the aim again, saying: "We did have a bad run at the start and people were branding us one-hit wonders. That has given us more determination to show teams it wasn't just for one season."