I watched Motherwell vs Hibs from the press box: Three things I spotted as hosts own worst enemy in loss

Motherwell were turned over 3-0 by Hibs in their latest Premiership outing.

Junior Hoilett was gifted the opener for the visitors after a dull opening to the game. Mykola Kukharevych doubled Hibs’ lead in a game where the hosts proved to be their own worst enemy, not clearing their lines before the Swansea City loanee bundled home.

Josh Campbell finished things off in the second half for the away side who won for just the second time this season, against a host who proved out of sorts all afternoon. Motherwell are fifth in the league after this result, with Hibs second bottom.

Heading into this one off the back of a defeat against Ross County, Kettlewell’s side were looking for a response against a team who have found themselves mired at the foot of the table. A pulsating 3-3 draw last time versus second-placed Aberdeen showed there was little room for complacency.

Low-key would be a polite way of putting the first 15 minutes of this one and the uber-cynic would find something stronger quite easily. Neither side were getting much of a firm foot on the ball in a game of aerial duels and misplaced passing to this point. Finally, something in the way of an attack transpired, a well-worked set-piece finding Kofi Balmer but all he could do was acrobatically volley the ball way over.

It was something though in a game that needed a spark, and unfortunately for Motherwell, they handed one to Hibs. Aston Oxborough has been a consistent performer for the club since becoming number one but the keeper suffered his first high-profile mistake when missing a Nicky Cadden cross than Hoilett was all too happy to tap home.

Oxborough then had to recover and deny an Elie Youan effort free at the back post minutes later as the home crowd grew frustrated. They wanted to see more from their side who had offered next to nothing in an attacking sense. Nicky Cadden’s free-kick smartly stopped by Oxborough showed a visiting party beginning to believe this was there for them.

Sure enough off the corner-kick routine that followed, it was two. A mess at the back allowed a goalmouth scramble to ensue with Kukharevych bundling home. This was as poor as they had been all season and after 40 minutes, found themselves in a major hole that looked an enormous ask to climb out of.

Zach Robinson and Tony Watt were thrown on at the break to try and energise the team with the former forcing a smart stop out of Jordan Smith in the Hibs goal from a corner. But still, overall, Motherwell’s performance was still in the huffing and puffing department with no real end product.

Then again, a defensive concoction of woe. A big lump up the park left the Motherwell defence at sixes and sevens before Dwight Gayle nodded onto Campbell to put in at the near-post. A dreadful afternoon summed up in one moment of play and similar to this on the road to Dundee and St Mirren in the next week will only bring more defeats. Improvements are required. I was in the press box at Fir Park for this one. Here are three things I spotted.

Light in the middle

Midfield options are short, and it is beginning to show. Tom Sparrow’s injury that rules him out for a month leaves Kettlewell in a room of few options. His starting midfield of Davor Zdravkovski, Andy Halliday and Lennon Miller has no real out and out creative midfielder within it. Harry Paton’s return to full fitness would be of benefit ASAP, as he’s someone who’s game is putting his foot on the ball and looking for passes in more advanced areas. Sam Nicholson, Ross Callachan and Callum Slattery are the others in this are out of action, and have been all season pretty much.

Striker unknowns

Up front, Motherwell have a range of out and out number nines but the bona fide player in that role remains up for grabs. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was hooked at half-time after limited impact but he’s not had much in the way of chances in recent matches. Getting more support to the forward line would give them half a chance at least of carving something out.

Clean sheets abegging

It was a day that nothing went right for Motherwell but in defence, Hibs didn’t have to work hard for their goals. The first is a keeper error, the second is through inability to clear a set-piece and the third comes from a big punt up the park that nobody could deal with. No clean sheets have come for this team in the league since the first game of the season in a 0-0 draw with Ross County at home. They haven’t conceded barrel-loads but for a team that has won all but one of its league games this term by a one-score margin, they can’t start shipping goals.