All is Well for Black & Co as Tynie revisited

Players competing against one another to feature in a forthcoming Hampden showpiece often become more dangerous opponents. In fact, that very carrot has been dangled all week at Fir Park by manager Stuart McCall and his assistant Kenny Black.

The Lanarskhire club are visiting Gorgie for the second time in a fortnight, however coaching staff are determined to ensure familiarity does not breed contempt in this instance. Their players are playing for cup final places and cannot afford to treat any post-split SPL fixture lightly.

Black is as well acquainted with Tynecastle as anyone having played there for five years between 1984 and 1989. He revels in returning to his former place of work since being appointed assistant to McCall three months ago. Like everyone else still high on adrenaline at Motherwell, he will practically skip off the team bus and down McLeod Street after last weekend's 3-0 defeat of St Johnstone which secured the aforementioned cup final place.

Add to that a creditable performance against Hearts two weeks ago, when Motherwell struck the frame of the goal twice in a 0-0 Tynecastle draw, and the warning signs are clear for all amongst the home ranks.

"Confidence certainly isn't a problem for us at the moment. Last weekend was a decent performance and a good victory and we're very pleased with what we've achieved," said Black. "Both myself and the manager said that, although we scored after only a few minutes, St Johnstone started brighter than we did. But we got the goal and we knew they don't score a lot of goals, so that gave us a lift and it worked out as a great day.

"What we need to do now is keep everyone fit and playing because it's easy just to switch off. I've seen it so many times before. Teams who reach a cup final think their job is done. The challenge for us is to keep all these lads going and keep their form up for the next four or five weeks. Then we'll have the same dilemma of who to pick because team selection will be varied.

"Our players will all be desperate to be involved over the next few games to help their chances of playing in a cup final. We've reached the semi-final of the League Cup, the final of the Scottish Cup and we're in the top six. For a club like Motherwell, that's not a bad season.

"We need to put the final to the back of our minds just now, though. The good thing for the next few weeks is that we have top-six matches against the Hearts, the Rangers, the Celtics and the Dundee Uniteds. They are all good games for us to finish the season with. We're going into Saturday's game on a relative high. Our main aim now is to see if we can get above Kilmarnock and into fifth place. That will be a feat in itself but we're going along fine."

Strangely for someone who performed so consistently for so long in maroon, and who doubles as a coach of Scotland's national team, Black manages to stroll in and out of Tynecastle almost unnoticed these days.

"We were there two weeks ago but everything has changed now. The people working behind the scenes when I was there have all gone," he explained. "I saw a few familiar faces after the game. Sandy Clark was working in the media, as was Jimmy Sandison, and I spoke to Scott Crabbe and Gary Mackay too.

"I tend to go in and out unnoticed and I probably prefer it that way. I had five good years at Hearts and I really enjoyed it. But you have to move on and I'm at a good club in Motherwell. I've really enjoyed it since I came here and we've had not a bad season.

"We could easily have won that game two weeks ago, particularly in the second half. Hearts started better than us and had a couple of chances in the first ten or 15 minutes. But, as the game wore on, we looked a lot more threatening and might have pinched a goal."

Added intrigue surrounds this weekend's fixture as a result of Hearts' interest in Motherwell's John Sutton, who is out of contract in a matter of weeks. He is viewed as a potential back-up for Kevin Kyle next season if the Scotland striker's injury problems persist.

As well as Sutton, Motherwell have Stephen Craigan, Steve Jennings, Maurice Ross, Esteban Casagolda and reserve goalkeeper Lee Hollis all out of contract at the end of the campaign. The short term deal of January signing Francis Jeffers also expires, as does the loan of Gavin Gunning from Blackburn Rovers.

Black and McCall are going to be busy over the next few weeks, and there will be more than just Hearts monitoring Sutton's performance on Saturday. "I think there will be a few clubs looking at John," said Black. "It's well documented that he is out of contract and there are a few others in the same situation. These lads haven't done themselves any harm because of the cup run we have had. That even applies to the likes of Jamie Murphy, who has done well and is not out of contract.

"It's up to us to try and keep these players but we as coaches can't stop press speculation linking them with moves elsewhere."

What they do aim to stop however is complacency setting in amongst a squad for whom the Scottish Cup final will be the pinnacle of the season.