Goalkeeper Liam Kelly says Motherwell need to be prepared to face a Celtic side keen to go into their Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers next week with a spring in their step.
But he insists the Steelmen will be just as desperate to get points in their bid to ensure their Premiership status for next season.
Kelly's side face the Hoops in their final game before the split and go into it off the back of a painful 2-1 defeat to Dundee United last weekend, which was determined by a controversial penalty that saw Kelly penalised for a foul on Steven Fletcher.
Motherwell sit eighth in the table, nine points clear of bottom side Ross County and eight ahead of both United and Kilmarnock in joint 10th.
With six games to go, the Steelmen are far from safe and an unlikely point or three would be just the remedy for last week's result.
However, Kelly knows just how difficult it will be with rampant Celtic on a 17-game wnning run and gearing up for an Old Firm semi-final at Hampden on April 30 as part of their treble bid this season.
He said: "Celtic are a brilliant team and they'll be keen to get maximum points before they break off for the semi-final game with Rangers, so we know how difficult it will be.
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"We just need to be as best prepared as we can and try to look for a positive result from the game.
"We need to take that mindset of being desperate for points going into the last six games.
"We will go to Parkhead and look forward to what will be a great game to be involved in.
"We've been defending really well and when you go there it's always going to be a really difficult game, so we will need to defend well to give ourselves a chance."
On their current standing in the table, Kelly added: "I don't think you've heard any one of us say we think we are safe.
"That's always been the realisation and we know that we've got work to do."
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