There’s been previous derby frustration – but Motherwell midfielder Mark O’Hara hopes he can contribute to a long-awaited ‘Well win over Hamilton Academical.
The midfielder has returned to action after a head injury during Graham Alexander’s first game in charge of Motherwell. After a frustrating few months, O’Hara wants to taste victory in the Lanarkshire derby, Hamilton having defeated the Fir Park club in all three matches this term.
Accies have lost just one of the last eight fixtures between the teams and it hurts O’Hara: “It’s massive. The two years I have been here we have not done well against them. It’s disappointing for us ourselves and it feels as if we are letting the fans down a bit, so hopefully we can rectify that.
“Circumstances have impacted during games, there’s been sendings-off, it’s been fiery, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. But we have a chance to put it right and if we can finish the last derby of the season with a win that will be good to look back on. These games are probably the most important ones the fans look for in the season.
“It’s massive and we definitely feel as if we owe the fans one. The manager has been clear in one thing that we don’t change how we are playing. We will stick to how we are playing and stick to the game plan. That is one thing he has tried to drill into us, to maybe not get caught up in the derby. I think that was what he felt the last time, that we got caught up too much in the derby feeling.
“As a football fan in general myself, a derby loss hurts, it hurts the players as much as it hurts the fans. It’s not been good enough previously so we have a chance to finish it off in the right way. What we don’t want is the feeling we had after the last couple of times playing against Hamilton. That was the low points in the season and we wouldn’t like to be back there.”
O’Hara’s last 90 minute display came against Hamilton in the 4-1 defeat at Fir Park in February, where the midfielder scored a penalty. He’s attempted to return from a head injury already, but this time, he feels in a good position to do so.
He said: “It’s been a frustrating couple of months. In the manager’s first game I got concussion and I tried to come back and it was too soon, and it set me back again. I have been having problems ever since but the last week or so I have been feeling good again. Hopefully that’s behind me and I can really focus on my football now.
“It was a case of going through the concussion protocols. I went through them, I came back, and I wasn’t feeling right so that set me back a bit, but I’m feeling good now, and hopefully fully focused.
“It’s good that they are in place though. I was working with doctors, in regular contact with doctors and physios and I’m grateful for that, because I think maybe in the olden days they would have been shoving me through it and you don’t know what damage that could have done.”
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