Motherwell caretaker manager Stephen Frail praises Celtic’s quality team

The Celtic Star

·3. Februar 2025

Motherwell caretaker manager Stephen Frail praises Celtic’s quality team

Motherwell caretaker manager Stephen Frail gave his assessment of the Steelmen’s 3-1 defeat to Celtic at Fir Park yesterday afternoon…

Luke Armstrong scores for Motherwell against Celtic. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

Strikes courtesy of Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah and Jota cancelled out Luke Armstrong’s equaliser for the hosts in the first half. The Hoops are now unbeaten in 34 matches versus Motherwell, a run stretching back nearly 10 years.

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Brendan Rodgers’ side remain 10 points clear of theRangers at the foot of the table and will play their rescheduled fixture against Dundee on Wednesday evening at Celtic Park with the chance of extending the gap over their rivals further. Dundee were hammered at Dens Park by Hearts at the weekend so it will be interesting to see how Tony Docherty’s side respond to that heavy defeat.

Meanwhile, Motherwell have dropped to sixth place in the Scottish Premiership table and are ominously only five adrift of Ross County who languish in the relegation playoff spot.

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Speaking to the media post-match, interim boss Frail who stepped in following Stuart Kettlewell’s shock resignation, praised his side’s determination for staying in the game against the Scottish champions.

Frail said: “I was delighted with the effort, I thought it was terrific. Losing a goal so early in any game is tough, but against a team with the quality of Celtic, you kind of fear the worst – I think it was 50 seconds or something.

“But they dug in, they battled, managed to get themselves back in the game, caused them a couple of problems first half with the ball, not as much as we would have liked in the second half. The actual work rate, desire, shape, whatever it was, without the ball, I thought was really good, and it’s something for us to build on.”

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Luke Armstrong scores for Motherwell against Celtic. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou

Frail continued: “They showed a lot of character. The players need to look after themselves, but they’re a really good group, they’re an honest bunch of lads that are great to work with.”

“But I think they did show a bit of character. They scored the third late on. Without really putting them under any pressure to try and get the equaliser, it’s still a late third goal, and there’s no way of coming back from that. But I’m really pleased with the character, and it’s a starting point to kick on.”

🎙️ “Jota is back!” 🔥 The winger marks his return to Celtic with a late goal ⤵️
– Sonntag, 2. Februar 2025

The former Celtic U20s manager added: “I think we could play better, and that’s something myself and the manager were constantly on at them about was to be better with the ball.”

“We’ve got a lot of good players, but maybe the lack of belief and trust in themselves and their team-mates [is an issue], but they need to be better with it in big moments of the game. If you’re defending like that for so long, and you win it back, you need to be good with the ball and try and cause them problems.

“It’s a pleasure to come in every morning, work with the people, the staff that I work with, not just the coaching side, everyone, the offices. It’s a small club with a real family ethos to it, and a group of players who, since Tuesday, having had to pick themselves up, have been terrific. So, until I’m told otherwise, I’ll continue to give all I can for the club.”

Conor Spence

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