Jordan Roberts interview: Motherwell strike ace tells us: 'There's much more to come'

Roberts, 27, a goalscorer in the recent 2-0 win at Hibs, has impressed supporters with his skill and directness up front as ’Well have taken seven points from their last three matches to go a long way towards guaranteeing their Scottish Premiership status.

Speaking exclusively to the Times and Speaker, Roberts – who commutes to Motherwell from his Edinburgh home – said: “As a footballer there’s always going to be hurdles in the way, like you might not hit form or you might have injuries or not have settled as well as you thought you might have.

"The opportunity was there for me to come down to Motherwell. I was open to it.

“I just wanted to hit the ground running and try as much as I can for the remainder of the season, obviously keep Motherwell in the league and try and add some numbers to my game.

"Because when you look back you want to say you’ve scored X amount of goals and had X amount of assists as well as playing a major part.

"At the minute I’ve started all right.

"There’s much more to come and I just want to build on it.”

Since their last Premiership game, a 3-1 home win over Livingston on March 6, Roberts said there had been an intense week of training before an ‘in house’ game between the ’Well players on Friday to help keep them up to speed.

So a lot appears to be rosy in the Steelmen camp ahead of this Saturday’s crucial league visit to face bottom club Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, when there will be belief that men like Roberts and fellow in form ’Well attackers like Devante Cole can put another nail in Killie’s bid to avoid the drop.

Roberts said: "Most of the lads are fit and doing well. Everyone is raring to go for the game on Saturday.

"Personally I don’t like having weekends off because it just kind of breaks the routine, especially after the lads are doing well. It’s a bit of a pain but it’s football and you just have to get used to it.

"Me and Devante have a good connection, try and link up when we can. That goes for all of us, the front three, Tony (Watt) as well.

"The manager (Graham Alexander) wants all of us to be close together on the pitch, us strikers.

"So that when there’s an opportunity it could land to any one of us. And I think that’s shown in the recent games.

"The manager has kind of given me a freedom almost to play and express myself and as a player that’s what you want.

"The shackles are off now and when I cross that white line it’s down to me to go out there, repay the faith that the manager’s put in me, help the lads and contribute as much as I can.”

Roberts and his team-mates were handed a massive boost last Saturday when drop rivals Ross County and Hamilton were both defeated 2-1, by Hibs and Livingston respectively.

Roberts said: “For us it’s about what we do. We don’t really look too much around us.

"It’s a boost to us that we’re in a better position but we want to add to that on Saturday with three points.”

Roberts, who also lists Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Crawley Town and Ipswich Town among his former clubs, signed a two-year deal with Hearts in August 2020.

When quizzed on the possibility of his loan to ’Well possibly being extended, he said: “I take each day and each game as it comes. I want to try and help out as much here as possible.

"I’ve got another year at Hearts and if I end up there, I end up there. But my main objective is to contribute here and not get distracted and sidetracked by transfer talk whether I’m going to be at Hearts or Motherwell.”

The Motherwell Times will be running a live blog from the Kilmarnock match, kick-off 3pm on Saturday.