Stephen O'Donnell has urged Motherwell supporters to remain calm and stay together as the team looks to end a run of four consecutive defeats in the Scottish Premiership. The defender, speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to his former club Kilmarnock, acknowledged the frustration but stressed the importance of unity during a difficult period.
Fan-owned club faces financial challenges
O'Donnell, who has experienced tough spells at Fir Park over the years, knows how quickly fortunes can change. He pointed to Motherwell's unique status as a fan-owned club as a reason for optimism, but also highlighted the financial realities that come with selling key players.
"No, I think you always want to aspire to be better and it's difficult," he admitted. "Like every club, when you sell good players, it becomes harder. We're fortunate Motherwell is a fan-owned club. But they need to understand that it's difficult and financially it's difficult to compete to sign players and get players."
"And then on the pitch, it's difficult as well. So it's trying to, as I said, remain calm as a club, which is fan-owned. So then that needs to relay back into the crowd. I know it's frustrating when we're not doing well."
Reflecting on Celtic defeat
The former Scotland international was candid about Motherwell's performance in their recent loss, admitting they were far off the level required. He took personal responsibility for one of the goals conceded, acknowledging it was not how manager Alfred Johansson had set up the team.
"I think passive is a frustration because he actually wanted us to try and press," O'Donnell said. "But the problem is when they then beat your press, you then find yourself deep. We just didn't quite have the quality within the 90 minutes to really challenge them and really threaten them."
"Albeit, I did think there was a couple of spells where we had them deep, and I thought you felt we could get some chances. I felt like we could have scored. I think the second goal kills it, which is obviously a mistake from me. But on the other hand, I thought Celtic did look dangerous going forward and it could have been that they could have scored a few more as well."
Kilmarnock's switch to grass
Kilmarnock have replaced their artificial surface with grass, a change O'Donnell welcomes. He recalled how the astroturf pitch at Rugby Park was often cited as an advantage during his time there, though he insists it was never an excuse when results went against them.
"Look, I think it always became a wee bit of that psychological one, if you could handle it and I got some good results at Kilmarnock," he said. "I also remember when I was first at Kilmarnock, nobody moaned about it when they were beating us every time. But whenever we started making it a hard place to come, the astro then became an excuse."
"I remember taking a few 5-0 defeats off Celtic before and nothing was ever then said about the pitch after the games! But look, I'm glad it's been moved to grass. I don't think there's an excuse. I don't think you can say it's the pitch's fault. People have played on Astro often enough anyway. But grass is my preferred surface, as I think 99% of players are."
O'Donnell is hoping for a change of fortune at Rugby Park and wants Motherwell to deliver a performance that requires no excuses. "It's a nice big pitch, a nice stadium if the fans are behind the team," he added. "As I said, hopefully they won't be on Saturday. Hopefully we can go and play a good game and no excuses will be needed."
Motherwell welcome back Johnny Koutroumbis for the match, but remain without Paul McGinn, Oscar Priestman, Callum Hendry and Regan Charles-Cook.
