Tony Watt hasn’t felt wanted at certain clubs in his career – but the love he’s been shown at Motherwell is something he appreciates greatly.
The striker has turned into a fans’ favourite this season, Fir Park supporters taking to his maximum effort style in every game. He’s been a regular under both Stephen Robinson and Graham Alexander, playing 31 times with an impressive six goals and eight assists.
He’s also signed a new deal until 2022 and how Motherwell appreciate him is a big factor in Watt being able to settle: “I’ve played more games in a row than I’ve ever played, I think. I’m enjoying every minute of it, it’s a club that has taken to me and I’ve taken to it.
“I am settled. I negotiated my contract I think it was in November or something and I did it easily, added a year on, because I’m happy here. I’m happy playing my football here, the management changed and I’m still happy here.
“I’m playing every week and we’ve taken a lot of good steps forward. Personally I’m really happy here, the fans have been brilliant, everyone around us has been brilliant and the players have been brilliant with me.”
This hasn’t always been the case for Watt, who says he’s been treated like a ‘pawn’ at some clubs: “I’ve been at places where the love’s not been shown back, shall I say, and it’s not for me, that. I don’t like being treated as a pawn in a game, shall we say.
“Here, you’re valued, you’re treated as a person and I can’t explain how much that means. OK, you can go and get an extra couple of pounds elsewhere or go and do whatever, but if you’re not feeling good, what’s the point in playing football?
“There have been years in my career where I’ve not felt good, and recently I’m feeling as good as I’ve ever felt. I don’t want to dwell on the past, but now with a smile on my face people are starting to see the real me, and I think everything behind has been wiped.
“I think people know – especially people close to the club – what I can bring and I know they value me as a player and, more importantly, as a person. It’s now just about paying them back, and I feel like I’m doing that, slowly but surely.”
The ‘Well support have grown to appreciate Watt during his first 12 months at Fir Park but the striker knows Alexander’s squad owe them one after a disappointing 4-1 Lanarkshire derby defeat to Hamilton last weekend.
Coming up against former side St Johnstone this afternoon, Watt is hoping Motherwell can put things right: “We were gutted at the time and directly after it, but the season has 38 games and we need to get ourselves back and focused on the next game.
“We’ve had quite a good run since the manager came in, I think he said the other day when we’ve had 11 men on the pitch we’ve only conceded a couple of goals from open play, so we’re actually quite solid.
“I think at the start of the game Barry Maguire getting his nose bled kind of kills us, we couldn’t really get into our stride and we were chasing our tail from there. The red card, again, puts us with our backs against the wall, but it is what it is, and it’s a bad result.
“I know the fans won’t be happy with it, and we’re not happy with it, but if we start crying about it and don’t pick ourselves up then we’ll be affected by it for the next few games. For us it’s about focusing on one game at a time, going into the next game and the last one is out of our minds straight away.”
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