STEVEN HAMMELL does not, by any stretch and with all respect, have the best facilities, the biggest budget or the most glamorous squad in the Premiership at his disposal this term.
But the Motherwell boss reckons honing the mentality within his Fir Park ranks will stand the Steelmen in good stead and allow them to pick up the results that their performances merit more often than not.
The visit of Rangers on Sunday afternoon offers an opportunity for Motherwell. The three points are the most important ambition, but it is a chance to re-write the record books and further bolster the belief that is building under Hammell's guidance.
The 40-year-old has shown that he can set up a side to compete in the Premiership. Now he wants to beat the best as Rangers come calling just weeks after Motherwell's so near yet so far outing against Celtic.
"That is every week," Hammell said when asked about being gutted at not earning a result at Parkhead as Ange Postecoglou's side earned a narrow 2-1 win. "There is not a game that we will go into with myself in charge that we will be happy losing. Ever.
"It won’t be something that is accepted here and it is something that the boys instil in themselves, it is the culture that is in the group. We were genuinely disappointed at the way that game played out.
"We hung in a couple of times but we took it right to the end. That is not a positive but it shows you. At the end of the game, we were disappointed.
"Like last week against Hibs, we were disappointed. We will be looking to get as much as we can out of this game.
"They are good boys. They are strong. Individually they are good and collectively we are getting better and better.
"The points we have got so far are, I think, not a reflection of what we have shown. We need to maintain that belief in what we are doing and the daily and weekly process that we are going through, believing in what we are doing and pulling together.
"There has been a lot of progression within the group individually as well as collectively so if we can continue to do that and show those signs that gives us a good chance."
The coming days could be the catalyst to the campaign for Motherwell and victory over Rangers would set them up perfectly for their Premier Sports Cup showdown with Celtic next week.
The blue half of the Old Firm will arrive in Lanarkshire under intense pressure following their 7-1 defeat to Liverpool. All eyes will be on Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side at Fir Park.
But Hammell won't lose focus on what Motherwell are capable of as he played down the impact that the harsh Champions League lesson will have on a team that need to maintain their Premiership title push.
“It's a massive week for us and we are looking forward to it," Hammell said. “We are aware of the Rangers result and we know midweek games can take their toll as we know.
“But, it is about what we do and we have prepared as best as we possibly can.
“We are aware of the threats Rangers have even if they make changes or have a couple of injury issues. They have high quality players, but it is all about what we do.
“It is never nice to lose games heavily and it is something they will be looking to bounce back from. It is something they are not used to, especially in the manner they did.
“That is up to them how they react. We just need to take our own game onto the pitch on Sunday and let them concern themselves with the way they do it.
“We can't focus too much on the opposition. We are not overly concerned about how the opposition will react to a negative performance and result.
“We want to bring the best version of ourselves and we have worked really hard this week fine tuning things."
