Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell admits he faces a major challenge to alleviate the lengthy absence of strikers Mika Biereth and Jon Obika.
Kettlewell has ruled Obika out until December with a hamstring injury and on-loan Arsenal striker Biereth will likely be missing until mid-November after suffering a knee injury against St Mirren.
Kettlewell – who has not changed his opinion on the tackle that injured Biereth – is limited in what he can do in the transfer market given the club’s spending increases in previous seasons.
He said: “I have always spoken about trying to run with four strikers minimum so that is a huge blow with the news on Mika and Jon Obika, it puts us down to two senior strikers in Theo (Bair) and Conor (Wilkinson).
“Jon Obika, we are probably looking at December. It’s a difficult one but it doesn’t change the situation for me. For us to do any more business, we are in a situation where we are one in, one out.
“It’s been a real tough week and a tough week without a blank canvas just to be able to pick up the reins and go and bring players in.
“But we will continue to work away and see if we can make the situation slightly better.”
Kettlewell declared 17-year-old Mark Ferrie was now “striker number three” while wide player Joe Efford can also play up front but has only had about 15 minutes of action since returning from a long-term thigh injury.
Barry Maguire’s loan move to Kidderminster last week opened a door for a potential new arrival.
“It might help us try and get one across the line,” Kettlewell said. “But the mindset wasn’t that it was in the striker situation at the time. We had been working away on something else trying to get a balance to our squad.
“The fact that (midfielder) Harry Paton has been out and (left-back) Pape Souare is out, it’s a little bit of spinning plates to make sure we have a balance to our squad. We feel Pape will miss several games.
“When I was looking at the start of the week, we had 14 fit senior players.”
Immediately after Saturday’s Viaplay Cup defeat, Kettlewell accused Charles Dunne of making an “absolutely horrendous tackle, two-footed and straight-legged” on Biereth.
In response, the former Motherwell defender claimed he won the ball but “unfortunately slipped” and caught the Denmark Under-21 international. Dunne has contacted Biereth to apologise.
When asked if he had a different opinion on studying the footage, Kettlewell said: “My opinion hasn’t changed.
“One of the things I heard was that he won the ball. What everyone needs to understand – and I need to stress, these aren’t my rules, anyone that watched me play football will realise I picked up more red cards than anybody else and was involved in more crazy challenges than anybody else – but the rules have changed.
“I have lost count of the times I have been told by officials that it doesn’t matter if you win the ball. If you are off the ground, coming in at pace, putting an opponent at risk of injury, coming off the ground, all of those aspects, I was led to believe that was a red card.
“I hear some ridiculous arguments of ‘ah, but he took the ball’… If you have to come through the player and both your legs are wrapped around the standing leg…
“I understand that Charles Dunne has reached out and apologised for the outcome of the challenge so I tip my cap to him and say fair play in that sense. But it doesn’t change the situation that it leaves us short at the top end of the park.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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