Motherwell in need of a good performance

Stuart McCall is hoping his Motherwell side can make a swift return to Hampden although he remains wary of William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round opponents Queen’s Park.

Well reached last May’s final, only to fall at the final hurdle in a 3-0 loss to Celtic. And it is a run McCall is eager to repeat.

He said: “If we could get to a final again it would be unbelievable. In cup games you’ve got to be lucky with the draw, hopefully have a good 90 minutes and produce the goods when it counts. First and foremost we’ve got to get past Queen’s Park and if we can manage to do that we’ll hopefully get another favourable tie.”

Motherwell were frustrated at under-performing on the big stage last year, but proud of their heroics en route to the final. For a repeat performance, McCall knows his side, who are third in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, must respond to successive losses to Hearts and Rangers.

“We need to get a good home performance under our belts,” McCall said. “The last two performances have been disappointing so we need a really good, strong performance tomorrow. We’d much rather be home to Queen’s Park than travelling to Inverness, which Dunfermline are doing.

“It’s a good draw, but only if the lads go out and perform like they can.

“If our attitude’s right, you’d like to think the ability will shine through.

“I saw Queen’s Park in a game not so long ago and what they will certainly do is give their all. They will make life uncomfortable for us.”

Midfielder Steve Jennings’ two-match suspension for his altercation with St Mirren’s Jim Goodwin is now complete but the midfielder will not be risked tomorrow due to a hamstring problem.

Stuart Carswell (chest infection) is also out and McCall plans to rotate his squad with Ross Forbes, Robert McHugh and Jonathan Page all set to start.

New signing Henrik Ojamaa is set for his debut off the substitutes’ bench, where he will sit alongside Steven Lawless.

Estonian forward Ojamaa, 20, has signed a short-term deal until the end of the season after impressing on trial.

McCall said: “He’s not here to be the next goalscorer that’s going to get 20 goals.

“He’s a young kid, we hope to improve him, he’s on a short-term deal, but he’s hungry.

“He’s quick and he likes to go in behind defences. He’s a little bit different to what we’ve got.

“Hopefully he’ll get some part of the game tomorrow and hopefully he can improve and be an asset to us.”