Motherwell boss excited by signing of new star after Leicester City exit as he plays big role in key cup win

Stuart Kettlewell insists there’s more to come from new Motherwell signing Tawanda Maswanhise after an instant impact on his debut.

The attacker has joined the club on a deal until January with an option to extend that further, appearing off the bench in a Premier Sports Cup last 16 win over Kilmarnock. He provided pace and direct attacking play before fizzing in the cross for Moses Ebiye to head home the winner in a 1-0 win.

He has spent his career with Leicester City up until this point but was released by the Foxes this summer. Manager Kettlewell was impressed with what he has watched of the 21-year-old in a bounce game and in training, with more still to come.

The boss said: "You can see what he's going to bring us. It's been a bit of whirlwind for him, the opportunity came up within a few hours to be involved in a bounce game. I loved his character and personality to thrust himself in and he seen that as an opportunity.

“We've had him in since the start of last week and he's shown up well in training sessions and another bounce game. He brings us a dimension that we don't quite have with his ball carrying ability and hopefully he adds that final ball. Hopefully he's exciting for the Motherwell fans because he's really embraced coming here and he excites me.”

Tony Watt also impressed off the bench after signing a season-long loan from Dundee United. He will be unavailable for the quarter-final tie against his parent club at home and he received a warm applause from most of the ‘Well fans on his second Fir Park debut, having irked punters since his exit to Tannadice in 2022.

Kettlewell said: “I'm delighted with that. I don't think it would've affected him either way but I heard when he warmed up and he got a tremendous reception. They will know that he's a good player and he's served the club really well in the past.

“That's the intention of him coming back but I thought he gave plenty when he came on. He will get sharper and pose more of a threat but the supporters were fantastic for him. He said that he would give everything and that's the starting point for everything we do."

It was hard-fought but victory is what Kettlewell hopes can kick Motherwell on after a tough start to the season disrupted by injury. He added: "That was the ultimate goal and it doesn't matter how you get there. Both teams would acknowledge that that there could be more quality and chances created. Kilmarnock had another game on Thursday and we had more time to prepare so it was so important to get in the last eight.

“You want to go into the last eight of the cup and I spoke to the players about how little those opportunities can come around. We are in the draw and that brings excitement as it's been a difficult start to the season because of the disruption. You can see the apprehension at times and we need to believe in ourselves more because I have that trust in them.

“We can definitely manage games better but I hope we will come out the better for it from coming through those challenges from Kilmarnock. We've been quite free scoring during my tenure. We always wanted to get more clean sheets and build off that base. Finding the balance is the most difficult part between forming that defence base and committing men going forward. We are working away on that and we're not perfect but we want more clean sheets, while stile carrying a threat."