Liam Kelly admits he is "deeply hurt" by Motherwell's miserable run in the Premiership - but hopes new boy Riku Danzaki can be the spark to take them clear of relegation trouble.
The Steelmen's skipper saw his side slump to a 1-0 defeat at St Mirren on Saturday, making it nine league games without a win.
It also left the Fir Park club joint-bottom of the table with three other sides, sitting on 20 points alongside Kilmarnock, Ross County and Dundee United.
However, the arrival of Japanese attacking midfielder Riku Danzaki on a two-and-a-half year deal provides Kelly with hope of a revival.
After Saturday's defeat, he said: "I am deeply hurt. Me as a captain – I’m hurting.
"But being negative won’t get us anywhere. We need to stay positive and believe. Hopefully it will turn for us because we are absolutely desperate to win.
"We have needed that freshness of new players and the boys who have come in have done well.
"I haven’t seen much of Riku, just clips on the videos and YouTube.
“But he seems a really nice man, he's full of energy. You get a really nice vibe off him when he is in the building.
"We are hoping he can give us a spark, bring a positive energy and attitude to the pitch.
“We need help and hopefully he can provide it.
"We are in a position we don't want to be in but we just need to graft away to get out of it."
The stats make miserable reading for the Fir Park faithful as they need to go back to October 29 last year to find the last time they picked up a league victory, which was a 1-0 success away to Dundee United.
They have kept one clean sheet in their last 13 games in the Premiership and in the last year they've managed just three league wins at home ahead of hosting St Johnstone on Wednesday night.
Asked if the squad was lacking desire, Kelly said: "I know for a fact we are trying hard as a team. Loads of us could be better - myself included - but I wouldn't like to accuse anyone of not having desire because it is a privileged position we are in to play for this club.
"I absolutely love it and I give my all every week, so I hope it is not desire.
"“We had a lot of the ball but we’re not putting it in the goal and we’ve not been good enough at the other end. That’s the story of the season.
"I didn't feel like St Mirren created much but they scored early on so the onus is on us to score.
"It feels like we are in games a lot, we are just as good as the opposition but we are always coming up short.
"It's disappointing and the only way it is going to turn is if we keep grafting."
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