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Graham Alexander hints at further Motherwell signings

Graham Alexander hints at further Motherwell signings
© Reuters
There could be 6,500 fans at Fir Park on Sunday.

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander is targeting improvement and has called on the returning fans to roar his team to victory over Hibernian following a tough pre-season.

Alexander has several players missing including Mark O'Hara and is still looking to complete his squad.

Motherwell won their Premier Sports Cup group but lost to Airdrie in front of 700 travelling fans in a Lanarkshire derby and had some other challenging moments along the way.

Alexander is happy with his recruitment so far, however, and is looking for a flying start against Hibernian at Fir Park on Sunday as his side look to better last season's eighth-placed finish in the Scottish Premiership.

"In professional sport you have always got to try and improve everything you do, even if you are top of the tree," he said. "And that's the target for us.

"It's been a broken pre-season really, recruitment has been difficult, getting the right players in. We have had a lot of trialists in just to fulfil fixtures and look at those guys.

"We have probably had our main squad training together for 10 days to two weeks.

"But that's the challenge, I'm not saying I'm the only manager who has that challenge in football, certainly in these times.

"We are happy with our recruitment so far but we are still light in certain areas.

"We probably want to carry two or three players more than we first planned because of the issues with Covid, which are not going away.

"At any point we could lose players through no fault of our own and we have to be strong enough to withstand that as the season goes through.

"We are still looking and working hard, we have some players we are trying to get over the line and we have an open mind about what we might find being let go by other clubs."

There will be up to 4,500 home fans and potentially 2,000 Hibernian supporters at the league opener as restrictions on crowds ease further.

"We felt that impact when they first came through the door and it's been really positive," Alexander said.

"We didn't have a positive night in the cup against our local rival but I suppose we got them used to the trials and tribulations of being a Motherwell supporter really early.

"But hopefully they will see we are creating a team that is dedicated to their job and wants to win games for the supporters and themselves.

"But we need everyone together. That's the biggest thing in football, in life, I talk about it with my squad all the time, about being together on and off the pitch, and we need the supporters with us as well.

"We can't do anything separate. Our club is fighting against much bigger clubs week in, week out, and we have to get that togetherness and that rapport between us and the supporters to make sure we are stronger when we come up against those opponents.

"If I know those supporters, from my short time, they will get behind us and give us that support."

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General view of Fir Park, home of Motherwell, from November 2011
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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
ChinaChina32211669
United StatesUnited States24282173
JapanJapan1961136
AustraliaAustralia1441634
Olympics flagRussian Olympic Committee13211852
Great BritainGreat Britain13171343
Today's Olympic highlights header

Wednesday's key events


SKATEBOARDING
· Team GB starlet Sky Brown - aged just 13 - takes part in the women's park event and has a realistic chance of picking up a medal too. Bombette Martin is Britain's other representative, while hosts Japan are among the favourites for gold (1am)

HOCKEY
· Great Britain's women have more history in their sights heading into their semi-final against Netherlands - the team they beat in the 2016 gold medal match (2.30am)

ATHLETICS
· The men's 400m hurdles final on Tuesday will go down as one of the greatest Olympic races of all time, and the women will attempt to emulate that, with new world record holder Sydney McLaughlin of USA and Netherlands' Femke Bol the favourites for gold (3.30am)
· Nick Miller is Britain's representative in the men's hammer throw final (12.15pm)
· The men's 800m final could be a wide-open affair (1.05pm)
· A thrilling men's 200m final is in store as the likes of Andre de Grasse, Noah Lyles and 17-year-old sensation Erriyon Knighton bid to succeed Usain Bolt as Olympic champion (1.55pm)

SAILING
· After a medal-laden day on the water on Tuesday, Great Britain will be looking for more success, starting with Luke Patience and Chris Grube in the men's 470-class medal race (6.33am)
· Team GB also have medal hopes in the women's event, with defending champion Hannah Mills looking to retain her crown alongside new teammate Eilidh McIntyre (7.33am)

BOXING
· Already guaranteed at least a bronze, Great Britain's Frazer Clarke faces Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov in the men's super heavyweight with a place in the gold medal bout up for grabs (7.03am)
· Ben Whittaker is also guaranteed a medal, but will look to ensure that is either gold or silver as he takes on Cuba's Arlen Lopez in the light heavyweight final (7.35am)

CYCLING
· World records have been tumbling in the velodrome, and another could go in the men's team pursuit final as Italy - new world record holders themselves - face Denmark (10.06am)

EQUESTRIAN
· Three Brits have made into into the final of the men's jumping individual final, including fastest qualifier Ben Maher, who will bid to inherit compatriot Nick Skelton's Olympic crown (11am)

> Today's schedule in full
Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1RangersRangers11003033
2Aberdeen11002023
3Hibernian11003213
4Hearts11002113
5Dundee10102201
6St Mirren10102201
7Ross County10100001
8St Johnstone10100001
9Motherwell100123-10
10Celtic100112-10
11Dundee UnitedDundee Utd100102-20
12Livingston100103-30

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