Slough boss Scott Davies is back involved in the FA Cup first round but this time the only rush he is seeking is the high of a win.
Davies, who is candid enough to admit he lost his professional career because of gambling, was a player at Crawley when they reached the fifth round in 2012.
Under the stewardship of Steve Evans, Crawley won four ties before they were beaten by then-Premier League opposition in Stoke, but Davies laughs upon the realisation that he did not contribute towards that run.
“It sounds normal for me, but I fell out with the manager that season, so I didn’t play a big part at all,” Davies told the PA news agency ahead of sixth-tier Slough hosting Sky Bet League Two outfit Grimsby on Sunday.
Except that is no longer normal for a player once so crippled by a gambling addiction that he quit the professional game at the age of 26 after losing more than £200,000.
Davies’ relationship with gambling started a decade earlier when he walked into a bookmaker to kill time after training with Reading’s youth team, but in the flash of an eye his £50 weekly wage had been swallowed by the roulette machine and he suddenly had no money for the £1.50 bus fare to training.
Across the next 10 years the midfielder would score against Chelsea in pre-season, but blow his chance to work with ex-Royals boss Brendan Rodgers, regularly bet on himself, waste a £30,000 signing on fee in a fortnight and hurt the people closest to him.
Plenty of wake-up calls were ignored: sleeping in his car, bailiffs knocking at his door and even a crash when he was watching horse racing on his phone.
But a year after being released by Oxford, the sight of his emotional mother outside a bookmaker tipped Davies over the edge and he subsequently checked into rehab at Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance clinic in 2015.
He said: “My rock bottom was when I lost my football career ultimately because of my gambling.
“I didn’t deserve to be a professional footballer any longer because I wasn’t living the life of a professional.
“It was around a year after I came out of the professional game when I was playing in non-league that it hit me like a ton of bricks.
“I lost my identity of who I was, I didn’t have any structure, focus or routine in my life and I found myself self-harming in my kitchen in 2015, which was a dark place.
“I look back now and realise I tried to deal with the problems myself when I wasn’t equipped to do that.
“When I started talking about the issue, I felt like I started to overcome it and it has been over eight years now since I had a bet.
“I’ve definitely turned a corner for the better and I am in a good place.”
Davies has transformed his life since leaving rehab and now regularly visits Premier League and Football League training grounds to share his story as part of his work with EPIC Risk Management, a global gambling harm minimisation consultancy.
While the 35-year-old believes football is finally starting to take gambling seriously, with more education and better help on offer, he has been saddened by the plight of Brentford forward Ivan Toney and Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali, both of whom are currently serving bans for betting on the sport.
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“We want the integrity of our game to be kept at the highest level possible, but I also find it extremely sad that people are struggling with addiction,” Davies added.
“We sometimes forget the person involved and just look at the story. No one has a bet with the intention of losing their career, but sometimes addiction can take over.
“From what I am reading, Tonali and Ivan Toney have definitely had an issue with gambling and hopefully they come out on the right side and get the help they need.
“I am actually really forward to seeing Ivan Toney come back. For me it will be great to see he has recovered from any issues he might have been facing and got the help he needed.”
The ‘new Scott Davies’ is approaching a year in management, happily married and content with life.
Davies, who has made 179 appearances for Slough since 2018, masterminded a successful survival mission in the National League South last season after being named permanent player-boss in November.
Now into his first full campaign as a manager, Davies will take on a Football League side on Sunday when Grimsby visit a sold-out Arbour Park, but the former Reading protege has no current desires to return to the pro game.
Davies added: “A lot of people say I should get my badges and focus on getting to the Football League as a manager, but I’m very different.
“With what I have been through in my life and where I have been, I am quite content and happy with what I am doing at the moment with being player-manager at Slough and working with EPIC.
“I take each day as it comes, like I have done for probably the last eight years.
“The regrets I have in football I am definitely making amends for now. I know I can get some unbelievable days as a manager and hopefully one of them starts with a win on Sunday.”
An emotional Ons Jabeur announced she will donate some of her WTA Finals prize money to help Palestinian victims of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
After beating Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-3 in a reversal of the Wimbledon final for her first victory at the tournament in Mexico, Tunisian Jabeur broke down in tears during her post-match interview.
“I am very happy with the win but I haven’t been happy lately, to be honest with you,” said Jabeur.
“The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy. It’s very tough seeing children, babies, dying every day. It’s heartbreaking. So I’ve decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians.
“It’s not a political message, it’s just humanity. I want peace in this world and that’s it.”
Jabeur will need to beat Iga Swiatek in her final group match to have a chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Second seed Swiatek has been in fine form in Cancun, defeating Coco Gauff for the ninth time in 10 meetings on Wednesday night.
The US Open champion double-faulted four times in a row during the second set in a 7-5 6-0 loss, with errors costing her dearly.
The win means Swiatek, who can overtake Aryna Sabalenka to reclaim the world number one spot this week, is the first female player to record 65 or more tour-level wins in back-to-back seasons in nearly two decades.
Swiatek is the only player to record 65 wins in 2023, with Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz on 64 and 63 wins respectively.
A prospective Saudi Arabia World Cup is taking football back to a “dark time”, according to Human Rights Watch.
FIFA confirmed on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder for the 2034 tournament after a process lasting less than a month and with only interest from Asian and Oceanian federations permitted.
While it still needs to be rubber-stamped, probably at FIFA’s Congress late next year, this appears little more than a formality.
In a statement to the PA news agency, Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said: “FIFA awarding the World Cup without any competition or transparent bidding and assessment process takes us back to the dark time for football that delivered the Qatar and Russia World Cups in a corrupt process that led to years of arrests.
“With more than 11 years until the 2034 World Cup, why were all other federations that had previously expressed an interest in bidding to host a World Cup discouraged or disallowed?”
In announcing the bids, FIFA stressed that its dialogue with Saudi Arabia prior to the Congress will include ensuring its human rights obligations are met, but Worden has low expectations.
“The previous due diligence process to assess bids and deal with predictable human rights problems wasn’t perfect – but it existed,” she said.
“FIFA’s human rights policy will be worth less than the paper it’s printed on if Saudi Arabia’s bid goes forward as planned.”
Royal Ascot winner Bradsell has been scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
In a huge blow to connections the King’s Stand Stakes hero will not be taking his place in the field.
He had been seen in action on the Santa Anita track on Wednesday but overnight trainer Archie Watson informed Breeders’ Cup officials Bradsell would not be running.
In the absence of usual partner Hollie Doyle, who is suspended, he was due to be ridden by Luke Morris but unfortunately for those concerned Bradsell will be absent when the field lines up on Saturday.
European interest in the race now rests with Nunthorpe winner Live In The Dream and Aidan O’Brien’s Aesop’s Fables.
Great Britain sprinter Joe Truman knows he has a point to prove as he targets an Olympic debut in Paris next summer.
The 26-year-old saw his Tokyo dream dashed by a back injury which hampered him for the best part of two years, and his return to action did not go smoothly either – he was knocked out cold in a high-speed crash in the keirin at the Commonwealth Games last summer.
But those frustrations are now fuelling Truman as he looks to fulfil his long-standing ambition to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.
“I feel like I’ve missed a lot of opportunities,” Truman told the PA news agency.
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“Even at the Commonwealth Games last year, I was looking forward to racing in the sprint and the kilo (time trial) which I never got to do.
“I think I’ve got a point to prove but I’m just going out to make myself better. If for the next eight months I can go into every week smashing it, doing whatever I can, leaving no stone unturned, then I’ve nowhere to hide really.
“My main motivation is to put right the opportunities I’ve missed for various reasons. It is very good fuel really. You don’t want to end your career with any ‘what ifs’ so I’m really putting my best into every session.”
Truman’s ambitions have led him to the UCI Track Champions League, the made-for-TV series which is midway through its third season, as he looks to build up his race experience.
This is the first year the Champions League has taken place in a pre-Olympic year and although organisers moved it forward by a month, a number of star riders nevertheless chose to sit out this season to not disrupt their training. Truman took the opposite view.
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“(Getting to Paris) would be massive,” he said. “It would be making good on eight years’ work. That’s what I want most out of the next year, and that’s the reason I’m here.
“Some others didn’t want to do it because they didn’t think it would be good preparation but I saw it as the opposite. It’s a good opportunity to get some race practices in. For me, in the keirin, the Commonwealth Games I’ve only ridden the keirin once.
“I really need to get some more experience because I want to go to the Games competitive in all events, not just the team sprint, so something like this has a lot of positives in it.”
After years of setbacks, Truman feels like he is approaching his best form again at just the right time.
He surprised himself with a time of 59.092 in the one kilometre time trial at the World Championships in Glasgow in August, narrowly missing out on a medal.
At the opening round of the Champions League in Mallorca last month, he made it to the semi-finals of the sprint and came out of the night in fourth place overall in the men’s sprint standings.
Although there was disappointment a week later in Berlin, Truman will approach Paris this weekend with optimism before his primary target – the closing two rounds in London on November 10-11.
And Truman said the competition, which is an invitation-only event based on results, was a good environment to try new things.
“It’s a big occasion, televised worldwide and good crowds, especially in London where I want to show my nose, but it’s a strange mix – you’re not expecting much from yourself physically but mentally you want to go well,” he said.
“The best training is when you’ve got a number on your back. That’s when you get the best out of yourself.”
The Boston Celtics remained perfect on the season and scored the second-most points in their storied history in a 155-104 drubbing of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 12 rebounds in three quarters as one of eight Celtics to score in double figures.
Derrick White scored 18 points, Jaylen Brown added 16 and Jrue Holiday had 15 as Boston won its fourth straight and joined Dallas as the only unbeaten teams left in the NBA.
The only time the Celtics scored more points in a regular-season game came in a 173-139 win over the Minneapolis Lakers on Feb. 27, 1959.
The Celtics made 16 of 21 shots in the first quarter with eight 3-pointers and had 75 points by halftime for the second straight game.
Mavericks hit 20 3s to stay unbeaten
Grant Williams matched career highs with 25 points and seven 3-pointers as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls 114-105 to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2004-05.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 24 points with seven 3s and Luka Doncic added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who went 20 of 48 from long range and limited the Bulls to 11 for 33.
Zach LaVine scored 22 points and Nikola Vucevic added 21 and 20 rebounds as Chicago failed to win two straight for the first time this season.
Thompson lifts Warriors with last-second basket
Klay Thompson drained a 17-footer with less than a second remaining and the Golden State Warriors got past the Sacramento Kings, 102-101.
Domantas Sabonis hit a 20-footer with 15 seconds left to give the Kings a one-point lead, but Thompson answered from just inside the key with 0.2 seconds left.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 21 points, Dario Saric added 15 and Thompson and Andrew Wiggins had 14 points apiece.
Sabonis finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds as Sacramento dropped its seventh straight regular-season road game in the series.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has beaten American Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals in Mexico.
The American world number three felt the pressure from her Polish opponent, double-faulting four times in a row during the second set on Wednesday in Cancun.
The errors cost Gauff dearly as she gifted the upper hand to Swiatek.
Gauff could not mount the comeback as Swiatek secured the win 7-5 6-0 as she hopes to take back the world number one crown from Aryna Sabalenka.
The win means she is the first female player to record 65 or more tour-level wins in back-to-back seasons in nearly two decades.
Swiatek is the only player to record 65 wins in 2023 with Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz with 64 and 63 wins respectively.
She will take on Ons Jabeur in her final group match on Friday, Jabeur having beaten Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-3.
It was the first game between the pair since the Wimbledon final, Jabeur saving six of seven break points in the first set.
Jabeur took the second set after she broke Vondrousova at 3-3 and again after holding serve to set up a crucial match against Swiatek.
Nathan Eovaldi and two relievers combined to five-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers won the franchise’s first World Series title with a 5-0 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday.
The Rangers finished the postseason a major league-record 11-0 on the road, capping the first title in their 63-year history with three straight wins in Arizona.
Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh and Marcus Semien capped Texas’ four-run ninth with a two-run homer.
Eovaldi walked five in six innings but wiggled out of trouble each time to improve to 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in this postseason.
Aroldis Chapman got two outs before Josh Sborz fanned four over the final 2 1/3 innings for his first save in the playoffs.
The Diamondbacks had plenty of chances to score but went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on.
Arizona starter Zac Gallen took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Corey Seager led off with an opposite-field single.
Evan Carter followed with a double and Garver’s single gave Texas all the offense it would need.
Seager became the fourth player in history to win two World Series MVPs, along with Reggie Jackson, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.
The Texas Rangers have won baseball’s World Series for the first time after clinching a 4-1 series victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
A 5-0 win in game five sealed the series, capped off by a two-run home run from Marcus Semien in the ninth inning.
Mitch Garver’s RBI single in the seventh inning opened the scoring after Corey Seager had claimed the Rangers first hit of the night, following six innings without one against Diamondbacks starter Zach Gallen.
They stretched that to 3-0 in the ninth inning before Semien added the final blow.
After splitting the first two matches of the series, the Rangers won all three of the games in Arizona as they went through the entire postseason unbeaten in 11 games on the road.
Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who won a World Series ring with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and moved to the Rangers before the start of the season, threw six scoreless innings and the bullpen completed the job.
Corey Saeger became just the fourth player ever to win the World Series MVP award twice, alongside hall of famers Reggie Jackson, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.
The series win comes after 63 years of trying and 12 years after they were twice one strike away from winning against the St Louis Cardinals.
It is a fourth success for manager Bruce Bochy, who won three World Series in charge of the San Francisco Giants – including victory over the Rangers in 2010.
Philippe Clement thanked the Rangers supporters for backing their team in the 5-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park but asked them to leave the pyrotechnics at home in future.
The match was delayed by 45 minutes after the Rangers team bus was held up in traffic and then suspended for 18 minutes after the travelling fans let off a large number of flares that triggered fire alarms under the stand.
Rangers were unaffected by either delay as they ran out comfortable winners thanks to goals from Ryan Jack, Danilo, Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and James Tavernier.
Clement was pleased with his players’ focus but hoped there would not be future firework displays from the Rangers fanbase.
The Belgian said: “I expect a team that’s always ready no matter what happens, even if they say we have to play in the car park.
“We need to be ready because we play this game to win, so we must always be ready to adapt to the situations.
“The players were ready and after going inside again it was the same. Because you have five minutes in the dressing room it doesn’t mean you lose your focus.
“They need to be winners so whatever circumstances, whatever pitch, whatever weather, we are there to win games. That’s the mentality I want.
“I hope that the club does not face sanctions. You come here in the warm-up and the stand is full, everyone is chanting and supporting the players, giving a lot of energy.
“Those are very important things. We feel also the dynamic between fans and players is changing and it’s because of both sides.
“It was good the team started bright again, but I think everyone will understand that it’s really good to have all this support, all these songs and all this energy – I love it – but keep the fire outside of the stadium.”
Dundee boss Tony Docherty admitted he thought the game was going to be abandoned when referee Kevin Clancy took the players off the pitch.
He said: “It was a bizarre night and at one stage I thought the game wasn’t going to go ahead. I was trying to keep the boys focused.
“Then we start the game and because of the pyros we get brought in again. There’s a debate on whether there’s a place for that but the game was almost abandoned.
“The police took control and I didn’t think we were going to go back out again. That affects focus. When it’s almost causing matches to be abandoned I think we need to address it.”
Erik ten Hag promised he was a “fighter” after Manchester United slumped to a 3-0 Carabao Cup home defeat to Newcastle to pile more pressure on him.
Defeat in the rematch of last season’s final – which United won to highlight a promising first season in charge for the Dutchman – meant United have lost eight of their opening 15 fixtures in all competitions this term, their worst start since the 1962-63 campaign.
Goals from Miguel Almiron, Lewis Hall and Joe Willock ensured a second consecutive 3-0 home defeat for United, comfortably beaten by rivals Manchester City on Sunday, and they were booed off at both half-time and full-time as Ten Hag was left facing some serious questions.
“I am a fighter and I know it is not always going up,” he said.
“We have a lot of setbacks this season so far, but also you have to deal with it and that is never an excuse.
“I have said that before I know when there are setbacks the routines are not the same, but even then you have to get results in. Obviously, Sunday and tonight were far from that so we have to do things right and at a certain level, at the minimum level to win games.”
Questions of Ten Hag were already being asked after Sunday’s derby defeat left United 11 points from the top of the Premier League table after 10 games.
The former Ajax boss said he accepted that, but insisted he had no doubts about his own abilities.
“I understand it when the results are not there,” he said.
“It is also a logical process that they are questioning that. But I am confident I can do it. At all my clubs I have done it and also last year here I did it as well, but at this moment we are in a bad place.
“I take responsibility for it. I see it as a challenge. I am a fighter and I am in that fight and I have to make sure that I share the responsibility with my players and that we stick together and fight together, and get better results.”
Both sides made several changes from the weekend, but even with Newcastle’s resources stretched by injuries they looked by far the sharper of the two sides, winning the midfield battles and finding space going forward, often far too easily down United’s right-hand side in the first half.
“It is below the standards everyone expect from Manchester United,” Ten Hag said.
“It is not good enough by far. We have to put it right. I take responsibility for it. It is my team and they are not performing. I have to share it with my players, but I am responsible.”
Defeat was not the only blow for United with Casemiro, back after a three-game absence, withdrawn at half-time with an unspecified injury which Ten Hag said would rule the Brazilian out of Saturday’s trip to Fulham.
While United assessed the damage, Newcastle enjoyed lengthy celebrations with their loud travelling support after their first Old Trafford victory since December 2013.
“It was a massive performance from the players and I can’t credit them enough,” said Eddie Howe.
“Some great stories, only (an injury to) Matt Targett the negative, but even more credit to the players and some giant performances.
“I personally have always found it a difficult ground and Newcastle the same so another thing to be really proud of the commitment showed by everyone. I thought we showed some great goals, the quality was a real highlight.
“We are determined to try and do well in every game. We picked a team we felt could win and now we will do the same for Arsenal (on Saturday).”
Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was left frustrated after his side were forced to settle for a 3-3 draw in a thrilling Lancashire derby against Fleetwood.
Sonny Carey’s brilliant brace cancelled out early goals from Promise Omochere and Jack Marriott.
Shayne Lavery seemingly secured the bragging points for the Seasiders, but Marriott popped up with a dramatic last-gasp equaliser.
Critchley said: “It’s really difficult to know where to start because there are so many incidents in the game.
“My overriding feeling is that it’s two points dropped and it’s a game we should have won.
“I don’t know how many shots at goal we had, or chances that we created but it’s numerous and as the away team.
“At 3-2 we’ve got ourselves into a winning position after giving ourselves a mountain to climb first half.
“It’s a game we should see out. Even when they equalise we’ve still almost gone on to win the game.
“It’s a difficult one to sum up. We created chances. We constantly got into the final third in the first half and failed.
“We conceded two really poor goals, but if we keep conceding twos and threes it’s going to be difficult to win games of football.”
The Cod Army made a fast start and looked set to land a first Lancashire derby win for five years.
But they eventually had to come from behind to earn a point.
Boss Lee Johnson said: “The boys are disappointed and I’m disappointed.
“Ben Heneghan, to give an example, had told the lads we should have had nine points this week and instead we’ve got five, which is not a disaster.
“We’ve started a bit of an unbeaten run, but we need to deal with oppositions’ spells better.
“I thought there was a lot of character on the pitch, from both teams. And the fans really made it that derby atmosphere, and I love that.
“I want to see that against Exeter when we play them at home. We can create that with our spirit on the pitch and our spirit off the pitch.
“The spell that we conceded three goals, you ask whether they were fantastic or if we were poor. We felt we should have defended those much better.
“They threw caution to the wind, they had bright, busy players but we should have dealt with it better. We can coach it.
“We’ve started to score goals regularly which is really positive. It’s a sign that we’re improving, but it’s a sign we can’t get ahead of ourselves at anytime in any match and we need to stay focused.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva challenged Rodrigo Muniz to make the forward position his own after he scored in a 3-1 win at Ipswich to send them through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2004.
The Premier League opposition proved too strong for the Championship high-flyers with Harry Wilson, Muniz and Tom Cairney on target at Portman Road before substitute Elkan Baggott pulled one back late on.
It was the performance of Brazil striker Muniz which caught the eye after his movement helped create Wilson’s ninth-minute opener from Bobby Decordova-Reid’s pass before the 22-year-old fired home in the 50th minute from Andreas Pereira’s cross.
Muniz endured a difficult 2022-23 campaign on loan at Middlesbrough but after scoring his first Fulham goal since January of last year, Silva talked up his chances of starting Saturday’s clash with Manchester United.
“He is always a candidate and he had a very good pre-season,” Silva said.
“Unfortunately in the moment he was showing his quality, showing how he was growing, even if last season was tough for him, he had a muscle injury and it stop a little bit his development in the pre-season.
“He came back and had a very good game against Tottenham in the first Carabao Cup match we have and he is taking his chances. So, he is always a candidate like the others, like Raul (Jimenez) and Carlos Vinicius.
“They are fighting for the position, we don’t have a number one, two or three. It is for me to decide for each game regarding the strategy and what I want from the game. It is up to them to show the quality they have and to show they are able to play.
“Rodrigo did really well. Let’s see what is going to be my decision for the next match.”
Fulham’s passage into the last-eight was clinched when Cairney’s low effort went through Christian Walton in the 77th-minute.
While Silva was frustrated with Baggott’s headed consolation, he praised the application of his side.
He added: “Yes very good performance. Credit to the players, congratulations to them.
“It is true we did eight changes in our XI and even we probably needed more because we are going to play an early kick-off on Saturday, but in some positions it was impossible to do it.
“If I had the chance, I would do even more (changes), but the main thing for me is we kept our structure, we kept the same way. All the players know the way we want to play and we were really serious in the way we approach the game.”
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was able to take plenty of positives from only their second defeat of the campaign.
“It was a tough game, no doubt about that, but I think a game and a night we will be much stronger for,” he said.
“It was always going to be a massive challenge irrespective of how the game went or which team we picked.
“To concede an early goal against a really good Fulham team it was always going to be a really tough game, but I’m pleased with how we stuck at it.
“I am pleased we kept trying until the last minute, we tried to stick to our football and there is big positives to take.”
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson welcomed a return to form ahead of their Viaplay Cup semi-final after watching his side beat Motherwell 4-2 at Fir Park.
Jamie McGrath hit a double and Nicky Devlin and substitute Luis Lopes were also on target as the Dons played the ball around with confidence, especially after the Irish midfielder’s first goal in the 26th minute.
Late goals from Motherwell substitutes Theo Bair and Mika Biereth added a touch of respectability to the score from the home team’s point of view but they failed to take the shine off the night for the Dons, who face Hibernian at Hampden on Saturday evening.
“We were good all over the pitch, passed it really well,” said Robson, whose side had lost 2-0 at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
“Credit to Motherwell, it’s a great pitch, night and day from playing at the weekend. That helped us a bit as well.
“We passed it really well, brought speed to the game, transitioned really well and thoroughly deserved it.”
The Dons had not won in their previous four matches.
Robson said: “They are all big wins. We are sixth, have a game in hand, we are in a semi-final, we are fighting it out in Europe against some huge European teams. We just need to keep going.”
Motherwell have now not won in six games and conceded some soft goals throughout as manager Stuart Kettlewell experienced his side’s worst performance of his reign.
Kettlewell said: “We played poorly and got everything we deserved. In terms of our discipline and decision-making, having a real soft centre, our organisation.
“I know there is always an intent to score, but what we did when I first came in, we started from the back end of the pitch and made sure we had a real stability, not just from the guys in the back line but the midfielders and forwards too.
“That’s not working just now – we have conceded seven goals in two home games. We are not rectifying situations when we lose the ball.
“There’s a chink in the armour at this minute and sometimes it can come from decision-making more than ability. That was a big aspect again – we have put ourselves into poor positions and made bad choices.
“There isn’t a magic wand to fix that side of it but we have to remain together. We are going through a bad spell – it was undoubtedly our worst game since I took charge in February.”
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