Motherwell defender Jake Carroll says picking up back-to-back wins to kick off their Premiership campaign would be massive.
The 30-year-old Irishman says beating St Johnstone at Fir Park this afternoon would provide a huge confidence boost for a side currently short of that, as they adapt to life without boss Graham Alexander.
Carroll says the players are enjoying training and playing under caretaker duo Stevie Hammell and Brian Kerr, but admits uncertainty over what will happen in the next week.
The former Hartlepool and Huddersfield stopper said: “It would be massive to get back-to-back wins.
“To have a good start to the season like that, and start off with potentially six points, would be excellent for us.
“Confidence is a big thing in football, so if you can get that going it would be great.
“Winning on Sunday was massive for us, especially with someone new coming in, and the lads were wanting to do well for him.
“It’s always a relief after a game that you’ve got those three points – and it has been a while since we’ve had that.
“You miss it and forget what it felt like, so it was a great feeling in the dressing room.
“There was an aspect where we felt we could have played better, but just to get the three points was good for us.”
Carroll expects a tough game against St Johnstone, but says it’s important for Motherwell to impose themselves in front of their own fans.
He said: “Similar to maybe last week it could be a direct game. I’ve played against them for a few years now.
“They had a difficult season last season so they’ll be looking to be stronger, and you never know what to expect.
“They’ve got some good wide players, a big man up top and they’re strong physically, so we need to match the battle and impose ourselves.”
Carroll admits it was difficult to see boss Graham Alexander and assistant Chris Lucketti leave, but they’re adapting to Hammell’s style while they wait to see what is going to happen.
“You’ve got to move quickly in football, you can’t dwell on anything,” said Carroll.
“The boys were disappointed that he [Alexander] left, because he was good for a lot of us, but we had a game a day or so later, and had to focus on that.
“That’s the way football goes. It can be a horrible business sometimes, where it’s very ruthless, and you’ve just got to move on.
“But Stevie has been good. The players liked him anyway from being around the place. He’s a positive guy, he speaks to you a lot and the boys have enjoyed him.
“It’s different training to the previous manager, which is expected, and we’re just getting used to that.
“Last Sunday we won the game but we probably could have played more, and we’re a big disappointed in that aspect, where we had to defend more than we would want to.
“He’s trying to get us to be brave on the ball and try to play forward a bit more.
“We’ve been encouraged to be brave on the ball, be confident and look to go forward, not to be too cautious.
“He has asked for us to give him our all while he’s in charge. That’s what we did last week and what we plan to do this week, continue that way and see where it takes us.”
Carroll added: “We don’t know what’s going to happen week to week at the moment.
“It has only been a week, so it’s hard to tell, but so far the boys have enjoyed this week’s training and the result at the weekend.
“Everyone has respect for him, so if he did get the job it would be good for him, but we’ll see what happens.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
