Jennings ready to play despite being arrested in alleged scam

McCall will play the midfielder at Easter Road after the club confirmed he was available for selection following his arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud in an investigation by Merseyside Police and the Gambling Commission.

Jennings, one of nine men bailed until January pending further inquiries, has denied involvement in an alleged betting scam relating to Motherwell’s 2-1 defeat by Hearts in December last year, during which he was sent off. McCall revealed the 26-year-old has assured him he is determined to play in tomorrow’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash.

McCall said: “All this week he has been training outstandingly well. You expect managers to say that, but he has.

“Him and Jamie Murphy have really shone this week. They’ve both trained well and there’s no doubt in my mind he will be playing.”

McCall, who took over two weeks after the Hearts match, revealed he had spoken to Jennings about the investigation “a little bit when it raised its head ten months ago”.

McCall added: “Jenno just wants to get on with his football. He was a bit confused by it at first but he’ll just get on with it and we’ve got to wait another few months now.

“But that’s what it is. They’ve had a ten-month investigation and released him, and we wait for another few months. As far as I’m concerned, Jenno’s head is right, he wants to play, he’s an important part of our team and will be playing at Easter Road.”

The arrest threatened to derail Motherwell’s excellent start to the season, which sees them sitting above Celtic in second place.

But Tom Hateley is confident Jennings and Motherwell can continue their impressive form.

“He seems to be enjoying himself at training, along with all the other lads,” the right-back said. It’s something that we’re not trying to get too caught up in. We’ve got a massive game on Saturday and we can’t wait to get out there.

“We have just got on with the football side of things. It’s not something we have spoken to him about. He loves playing his football and he has been good to be around this week, as usual.”

Motherwell go into the game on the back of a 3-1 victory at Dundee United before the international break.

Hateley added: “We’ve got massive belief in our squad that we can win games. It may be a bit of a surprise to see ourselves sitting in second but it’s something we’re relishing. We haven’t had much of the limelight and I’m happy about that. A lot of the press has been about the Old Firm as it probably should be. That has worked well for us. We have gone under the radar and done what we had to do to get three points.

“We have got players at this club that can win you games and are quick and good on the counter attack, and we’ve done well away from home so far.”

Meanwhile, Hibernian manager Colin Calderwood has urged his players to build on their recent momentum by taking the “scalp” of Motherwell.

Hibs were unbeaten in five games before their defeat by Rangers ahead of the international break, a run that included a sudden-death victory over Motherwell at Fir Park in the Scottish Communities League Cup. Hibs soon built on that with their first home win of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League campaign, a 3-2 success over St Johnstone, and Calderwood is aiming for successive Easter Road triumphs.

Calderwood said: “They are a team who are really firing on all cylinders and they played terrifically well in their last game away against Dundee United.

“It is a major threat for us and it will be a terrific scalp if we get the victory.

“We’ve got to get home victories – that helps in terms of the crowd and support that we can get at Easter Road. It would also tie two victories together – the last one being St Johnstone and the next one hopefully against Motherwell.

“I think all these little things would help get people believing that we are heading in the right direction.”

Hibs triumphed after a 2-2 draw at Fir Park over 120 minutes, with both goalkeepers making several excellent saves and Motherwell controversially having a late goal disallowed.

Calderwood believes the game showed that both teams are stronger in attack than defence.

“It was just good entertaining football, both teams willing to attack and both teams having a threat when they attacked,” he said. I think that’s what made it exciting.

“Both goalkeepers played well and when you add in the cup tie, extra-time and penalties, it was an excellent game of football. I think both teams’ strengths are in the attacking side of the game.”