Stephen Robinson: Motherwell are third now but I have to temper expectations

A fantastic few days for Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson was completed when they moved up to third place in the Scottish Premiership with their third win in a week.
Well gaffer Stephen Robinson encourages his troops against Hearts (Pic by Ian McFadyen)Well gaffer Stephen Robinson encourages his troops against Hearts (Pic by Ian McFadyen)
Well gaffer Stephen Robinson encourages his troops against Hearts (Pic by Ian McFadyen)

The Steelmen beat Hearts 1-0 at Fir Park on Saturday, following on from a 4-0 rout of St Johnstone the previous weekend and a 3-0 away midweek romp at St Mirren.

“We set a target after we lost the two games,” Robinson said.

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“We said we were aiming for nine points and we’ve managed to win all three of them and not concede any goals.

“So it’s certainly a big, big month for us.

“We’re third in the table now. There’s a long, long way for the season to go.

“I have to temper expectations a little bit.

“Our aim first and foremost is to get enough points to stay in this division.

“And then we’ll look where we are.”

Motherwell’s latest victory came despite a sickness bug hitting the squad, with skipper Peter Hartley and sub goalie Trevor Carson not training most of the week, forward Christy Manzinga missing the game through illness and Devante Cole being demoted to substitute through illness.

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Robbo said: “We put a few of them on the bench, kept them away from the club.

“I thought our energy levels were good. I thought it was a really mature performance.

“They’re a really tight knit group of boys, close together.

“The boys that aren’t in the team are the ones that control how your dressing room is.

“The ones in the team are easy, they’re playing, they’re happy. It’s the other 10 that have to manage that, manage the disappointment and they do it very well.”

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Robbo singled out wing ace Hylton for the quality of his display against the Gorgie outfit.

“I thought Jermaine Hylton was class all day, I thought he was excellent.

“He gets to the byeline, before he would have slammed that across goal. We’ve worked on him cutting balls back and it’s a great finish from Longy.

“I thought we tried to play the football, get it on the ground and move them about.

“We didn’t do it as well as we could have done. We didn’t shift it as quickly as we should have done.

“But I thought as the game wore on we wore them down and started to dominate possession.”