Lasley confident togetherness at Motherwell will drag them to safety
Motherwell captain Keith Lasley is confident that the togetherness inside Fir Park can drag them out of relegation danger.
Motherwell slipped into the Ladbrokes Premiership play-off position with home defeat by Dundee last weekend but Saturday offers a chance to keep Ross County in the relegation mix as the Lanarkshire side look to cut a four-point gap on their visitors.
Lasley has immersed himself into the club on and off the pitch during 16 years at Motherwell and has let more recent arrivals know what retaining their top-flight status means for the jobs of staff.
And the midfielder believes all the players fully appreciate the stakes in their battle against relegation.
The 37-year-old said: "Sometimes you don't think about everything else that happens at a football club. As a player you are so focused on your own training and preparing for each game, you kind of forget everything that is going on round about you.
"For me there is so much good work going on at this football club, even this week with the season ticket sales and the 'Made in Motherwell' drive, which is some fantastic work.
"But we know the primary driver for all of that is what happens out there on a Saturday, so it's time to stand up and do our bit now. To keep this club in this division is paramount to maximise all of this good work that is going on.
"The players are well aware of that and hopefully that will be reflected in performances.
"We have a tight group of players, staff, extended staff throughout the football club, and it's time for all of us to stick together, the fans as well and the community.
"In the past that's when this club has been at its best and that's what we need to do now for the next three of four weeks. The players are more determined than ever and we are desperate to get these wins now."
Manager Stephen Robinson agrees that hammering home the implications of relegation can produce the determination needed to get out of trouble.
Robinson took inspiration from Raith boss John Hughes' post-match interview after his side fell into the danger zone in the Championship, when he urged his players to realise what relegation meant to other employees.
"I don't think you can hide that there's pressure,'' Robinson said. I listened to John Hughes' interview and he was 100 per cent right about the humility and the people's lives it affects. I 100 per cent agreed with him.
"We have said the same to our players about the importance of it and how we are the ones that can actually affect what happens, and the consequences if the worst did happen.
"We have made that clear to everyone, this is a club that is important to everybody's hearts. And we have a bunch of boys that believe in that."
Assistant manager James McFadden returns to the squad on Saturday more than six months after his last first-team outing and the 34-year-old could be called upon.
Robinson said: "He has played the last two reserve games so we will see where he is. We know what he has done in the past. We are just trying to get him back to full fitness again so that we maybe do have the option to bring him on for five or 10 minutes."