Motherwell injury update as key star suffers blow ahead of Rangers semi-final clash as big away win praised
He went down in the first half of the game between Dundee United and Motherwell.
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell has provided an update on Stephen O’Donnell after the right-back’s injury against Dundee United during a 2-1 win.
The Steelmen have a Premier Sports Cup semi-final coming against Rangers this summer, and were already missing Jack Vale, Sam Nicholson, Paul McGinn, Ross Callachan, Harry Paton and Callum Slattery for the game at Tannadice. Tawanda Maswanhise put Motherwell ahead in the game.
Sam Dalby levelled almost instantly after O’Donnell was taken off and the armband was handed to 18-year-old midfielder Lennon Miller. Maswanhise then grabbed a winner into the second half to lift Motherwell into fourth ahead of a trip to the national stadium.
Speaking after the game, Kettlewell provided an update on O’Donnell, saying an assessment will be made ahead of the weekend, with praise coming for goalscorer Maswanhise. He explained: “We’ll assess it.
“We don’t know exactly at this stage, it looks like a bit of a muscle issue. We’ll get the physios and doctors on the case. We’ll do our due diligence and find out where he is. Disappointed to lose him in the game but Shane Blaney stepping after a long-term injury, I thought he did very well.
“Tawanda is a breath of fresh air as a boy. He has a smile on his face, is a bright lively character and a really good type. We’ve known from day one, when we got him in a bounce game to play last minute, he was in the wilderness and he needed a place to play and grow.
“He’s still young and limited experience wise but I thought it was a really good performance and not just his two goals. His second was a special finish, first to have the speed and the finish so composed. He becomes the match winner and the headlines are justified.”
Miller has earned rave reviews since coming into the Motherwell team fully last campaign and took another momentous step from academy prospect to captaincy. That achievement has been lauded, as Kettlewell assessed the game.
He added: “It’s the easiest decision in the world. It wasn’t something I was thinking about, I wasn’t thinking about Stephen coming off the pitch. When I knew he had an issue, it’s not a difficult decision.
“That’s not to belittle any of the players on the pitch but if you have someone on the pitch who completes those 90 minutes all the time, a pillar of our team, I believe in trying to empower people and giving people opportunities. It’s a big thing for him and his family but from that point on I thought he showed a captain’s performance.
“It’s a big result. I knew coming in how difficult it would be. Dundee United have been really good at home. I knew the threat they carry.
“Probably once we got half-time it was a chance to reset. We scored a good goal from set play. We could have put our foot on the ball better in the first half and stamped our authority a bit better. We weren’t the biggest physically but we defended our box unbelievably well.”