O’DONNELL TRYING TO KEEP WELL PLAYERS ‘GROUNDED’

Motherwell captain Stephen O’donnell admits he has been trying to keep some of their new players grounded after a flying start to the season.

But he hopes they can continue to build their confidence and help boost Scottish football by sustaining their push in the upper reaches of the cinch Premiership.

The winners of Motherwell’s Tynecastle clash with Hearts will top the table on tonight, before Rangers and Hibernian get the chance to go into the international break on the summit when they meet at Ibrox tomorrow.

Motherwell are unbeaten in six league games with a draw at Ibrox coming in the midst of four victories, form which earned manager Graham Alexander the Glen’s manager of the month award for September and lifted confidence.

But O’donnell, pictured left, said: “It’s trying to keep a hold of that confidence.

"Sometimes when players haven’t played in Scotland they might get a bit carried away with a quick few results, especially early on in the season.

“It’s maybe not always as plain sailing as it has been in the past few weeks and you remind them of that.

“But we have to make sure we use this and build on the good results and try and keep the winning habit going.

“There’s not much between a lot of the teams and, if the big two have a slower start, it allows an opportunity to try and push,” added the Scotland right-back.

"Hopefully we can push that as long as possible, and if not us, Hibs or Hearts, because it is what the criticism of Scottish football is a lot of the time, and the longer we can push the better.”