3 things I spotted watching St Johnstone vs Motherwell as player Arsenal sold for 7 figures makes ML1 transfer

Motherwell lost 2-1 against St Johnstone in their latest Premiership clash through a couple of late goals.

Off the back of being booed off the park at the same ground and against he same opposition in Scottish Cup loss last weekend, boss Stuart Kettlewell was looking for a response off his team. He took the initiative in trying to spark one with several changes to the team and Ellery Balcombe handed a debut from the start in goals.

Then there were places on the bench for Carlisle United loanee Luke Armstrong and ex-Arsenal talent Dominic Thompson who joined on matchday. They were gifted a chance to make the perfect start inside 20 seconds when Saints defender Sven Sprangler looked to have committed a clear handball offence.

A VAR check once the ball went out of play later confirmed that to be the case and Andy Halliday stepped up to dispatch the resulting penalty. It wasn’t a classic on a less than ideal playing surface but Motherwell were certainly dictating more of the ball and looked to cut through St Johnstone with more precision.

Balcombe was called into action for the first time after the break with a fine diving save to deny Graham Carey, with Adama Sidibeh stopped with some last-ditch defending. Thompson and Armstrong came onto the game and the former immediately got stuck in with a crunching tackle that earned a booking.

Makenzie Kirk scored off a set-piece last week to sink Motherwell and nearly did so again off a Graham Carey corner, but this time it hit the post and was scrambled away. The home team had grown into this match and were applying the pressure to try and get level.

Soon they managed to break through, again a ball into the Fir Park box from a corner that wasn’t dealt with and Taylor Steven converted low into the corner. Then again, they were undone from a cross into the box and this time Bozo Mikulic put the ball past Balcombe with the away defence all at sea.

From a more positive first half, Motherwell let this slip through their fingers, still sitting fifth in the table. I watched the game from the press box at McDiarmid Park. Here are three things I spotted.

Reinforcements arrive

There were certainly fresh faces within the Motherwell ranks for this one. Dominic Thompson has put pen to paper on a deal until the end of the season after an exit from Blackpool. He started his career at Arsenal and was sold by the Gunners for seven figures to Brentford and has since featured for Swindon Town, Ipswich Town, Forest Green Rovers and Blackpool. Goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe made his debut after a loan from Brentford and Luke Armstrong was also in the mix after the striker joined from Carlisle.

Thompson said of his move: “I’m excited to be here in Scotland. I wanted to continue playing regular first-team football, and the opportunity to join Motherwell and play in the Scottish Premiership was an exciting prospect for myself personally. The manager has a real track record of developing players and enhancing their qualities on the pitch, and I felt that Motherwell would be the perfect place for me to develop my game.”

Ring the changes

A 1-0 defeat here the week before did not go down well with supporters who booed the team off the park. Kettlewell reacted against the same opposition with six changes to his team, Liam Gordon back in central defence alongside a debutant goalkeeper in Balcombe behind him.

Tom Sparrow came into right-wing-back, Stephen O’Donnell shifted into centre-back with Marvin Kaleta on the left of defence. Then there was Harry Paton in midfield and Tony Watt in attack. There was certainly more time on the ball as per the eye-test and more questions were posed of the Saints defence. They dropped deeper in the second half and it cost them. Fans again made it known their feelings at full-time.

Keeper concerns

There could be more goalkeeping changes for Kettlewell to battle through. Amid an injury to number one Aston Oxborough and losing back-up Krystian Heygi to a recall by West Ham, Archie Mair was not involved here. He was loaned in from Norwich City as the keeper woes unfolded.

Matty Connelly took his place in the squad here with Balcombe between the sticks. Kettlewell said pre-game the club “ will have an injury update with Archie Mair in the next couple of days once we have more information on that." It remains to be seen how severe this is but he could do with it not being yet another long-term issue.