Louis Moult was watching his former club from the stands against Hibs- and Stephen Robinson reckons a Motherwell victory would have been had if the forward was on the pitch.
Despite performing pretty well against the Hibees, Robinson’s side drew 0-0 with Jack Ross’ at Fir Park. The absence of key attackers in Chris Long and Jermaine Hylton limited what the Steelmen could do offensively.
Those who stepped up to replace them did well though. James Scott was brilliant on the left, Ross MacIver had bright flashes through the middle on his first senior start whilst Christian Ilic is still finding full fitness after an injury lay-off.
They were bright but a goal wasn’t to be found. Off the back of a 3-0 cup win over Dundee and 1-0 away win over Aberdeen, the point against Hibs was a decent end to a promising week.
Former stars in Cedric Kipre, Marvin Johnson and Moult watched on from the stands. Robinson believes that a Moult was all that was missing from his Well side against the Hibees.
“You’ve got to remember James Scott has just turned 19, it was Ross MacIver’s first start,” said Robinson. “We’ve got kids in the team without much experience.
“We bring on Christy Manzinga for what is his second appearance at this level. Mikael Ndjoli is a kid on loan. So that’s the level and if they were already at ‘that level’, they wouldn’t be at Motherwell.
“Sitting in the stands we’ve got Moulty, Cedric Kipre and Marvin Johnson. That’s what we do, we develop players and sell them on. If we had Moulty out there today I think we would have won 1-0.
“Unfortunately we didn’t. We’re missing Chris Long and Jermain Hylton and maybe that showed in the final touch. However, I thought James was excellent in the first half.
“Once he develops physicality I think we’ll struggled to keep a hold of him if I’m being honest.”
MacIver signs extension
In further good contract news for Motherwell, MacIver has penned a new Well deal. He will remain a Steelman until the summer of 2021.
The young forward has earned his reward after breaking into Robinson’s first-team in recent weeks. MacIver joined the Steelmen in the summer from Ross County.
His debut was a spectacular one, coming off the bench against his former employers to help Motherwell achieve a big Dingwall victory. His 25-yard goal was the equaliser in a 2-1 Well win.
He has since made two further appearances from the bench before a start against Hibs. MacIver’s the latest Motherwell man to sign a new deal, following the likes of Liam Donnelly, Trevor Carson and Dean Cornelius to name a few.