Motherwell are winless in their past four matches
Published April 9, 2026 • Source: bbc.com
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou is refusing to speculate on a points target that could land his side a fourth-place Scottish Premiership finish but admits his side "miss winning" games of football.
Askou's side currently occupy fourth spot but are only three points above Hibernian in fifth with six league games to play.
They were outside contenders in the title race for a time, but have fallen behind the top three in recent weeks.
Up until March, Motherwell had not lost a league game in 2026 but have lost three and drawn one of their past four matches, with a visit to leaders Hearts to come on Saturday.
When asked if he had a points tally in mind to secure fourth place, Askou said: "When you start doing that then you get ahead of yourself and then you start suddenly thinking 'if we just do this and just do that, then we'll be fine'.
"So that's probably the worst thing you can do as a group of players, where you can only play one game at a time.
"I can assure you that no matter how many points we need, we will go for all three points all the time.
"We really, really try to push for the win because we miss winning. We want to win every game we compete in, and we know that every time we do, it's obviously a massive step towards achieving something big.
"I do expect us to need more points than we have now, to at least keep this position. How many? Time will tell."
Hearts are one point above Rangers and three above Celtic with the final round of pre-split fixtures this weekend and Askou does not think any top-six side will win all of their remaining matches.
"I don't think anyone from the top will win all their games," he said. "That is, looking at the history, unlikely.
"If they do they will have a very good chance, especially the top three, of winning the title."
Motherwell have drawn both their previous matches against Hearts this season, but Askou hopes Saturday's meeting will be more like August's pulsating 3-3 draw than November's tense 0-0.
"When we look in the big perspective, both clubs are in a position that they could only dream of before the season started," he said.
"I'm pretty sure that they, as we will, will come with a big smile on their face, really excited to play that game, and expect it to be probably a little bit more lively and open at times than the last game, which was a bit tactical.
"Maybe [it will] look a little bit more at times like the first game, or something in between. But probably with a very intense atmosphere again."