This is an excerpt from this week's Claret and Amber Alert, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.
Motherwell are already looking in good shape ahead of the new season, according to Stephen O’Donnell, who is happy to see manager Stuart Kettlewell getting his transfer business done early this summer.
O’Donnell took time out of the Steelmen’s pre-season training camp in The Netherlands for an exclusive chat for the Claret & Amber Alert, and apart from the odd tongue-in-cheek grumble about the amount of running he is being forced to do, the 32-year-old was in high spirits as he looked towards the season ahead.
As well as shoring up some holes in the team left by the departure of some senior players at the end of the last campaign, O’Donnell believes that the club has added some good characters to the ranks too.
“I think the manager has made a point of trying to get people in quick,” O’Donnell said.
“In an ideal world, you would always have that, but it isn’t always as easy as you would like.
“He has got a few players in, and I think there will be a few more to come, so the squad is certainly in a far better place than it was last year.
“There’s definitely some good experience in there. Obviously, it is very early to say how it is all shaping up, but I think all of the boys have come back fit and the new signings will be trying to work their way into the team.
“This time last year I don’t think we really had too much depth, and we are already looking as if we are going to add a couple more, and we have the likes of Theo Bair to come back.
“It’s early days to say how good the new guys look, but certainly in terms of settling in, they have all fitted in really well.
“That is something the manager has looked to create, an even better dressing room. Losing the likes of Liam Kelly, Blair Spittal and Bevis Mugabi, you are certainly losing big characters, and he certainly looks to have brought in good people who want to work hard, and I think that is what he has achieved.
“That’s all I can really say so far, because we are training hard and then you are tired, so your touch isn’t quite there! It’s hard to be perfect when you are cramping up from the running.
“But we’re looking forward to the season. The boys are looking good, and come the game against Twente tomorrow, we’ll see if we are all good on the ball too!”
O’Donnell is hoping that friendlies such as the one against FC Twente - who finished third in last season's Eredivisie - will help Motherwell arrive at their League Cup group campaign as sharp as they can possibly be, and that situations such as the one that saw the side play a Conference League qualifier while still a little undercooked are firmly a thing of the past.
“It will definitely be a test, and these are the games you want to test yourselves in,” he said.
“It might be a tough day, it might not, but we will be going into it to work hard, and hopefully we will be competitive and give a good account of ourselves.
“Even in pre-season, you want to go and represent the club, the league and the country, and that is what we want to do.
“What is very different is that with the Sligo one, we were going straight into one of our biggest games of the season. It’s obviously not quite the same build-up as playing in a Conference League qualifier, but coming into the League Cup games last year the manager had us ready to hit the ground running, and it will be the same again.
“He will have prepared us really well. Obviously, we might not have all our signings in because there are moving parts to that, and it isn’t always as easy as you would like.
“But I definitely think we will be prepared to go into those games, try to remain unbeaten and definitely try to win the group.”
An in-depth interview with Stephen O’Donnell on his new contract, which position he sees himself playing in next term and his hopes for Theo Bair will appear in The Herald this Saturday, and on www.heraldscotland.com.
