PREVIEW | Motherwell v Saints

We head to Fir Park tomorrow afternoon to take on Motherwell in what is a big game for both clubs' top six aspirations.

Saints go into the match on the back of an important victory over St Mirren in midweek which saw Tommy Wright's men climb back above Motherwell into 9th place in the Ladbrokes Premiership table.

And speaking ahead of Saturday's six-pointer in North Lanarkshire, the manager believes that win on Wednesday night at McDiarmid Park will help spur his players on tomorrow.

"It maybe wasn't the performance we wanted but it should give us a lift going into the Motherwell match," Tommy said.

"We hadn't won in a while and that probably made the players feel a bit nervy in the latter stages but we held out and picked up an important three points.

"We're under no illusions that it's going to be a difficult game but it makes all the difference going into it on the back of a win.

"We've now reached 41 points and 12 wins - we achieved 12 wins in the whole of last season so that shows we've definitely improved.

"It's tougher than ever this year to get into the top six and we know now that we can afford no more slip ups. The same can be said for Motherwell too so it's a big game for both sides.

"We've got three games now and we may need to win all three if we're going to make it but our focus is on Motherwell and making sure we can get the win at Fir Park tomorrow."

This will be the third meeting between the clubs this season with Saints winning 1-0 at Motherwell back in October. Jason Kerr's last gasp winner that day was the start of an eight-match unbeaten run which lasted until tomorrow's opponents came to McDiarmid Park and won 2-1.

The two sides and the two managers are familiar with each other and Tommy reckons it'll be another close contest at Fir Park on Saturday afternoon.

"They had a pretty poor start to the season and I think they were sitting in and around the bottom three before Christmas.

"Then they managed to put together six or seven wins on the bounce and it's transformed their season. Everyone is talking about how good a campaign they're having but we're one point ahead of them!

"All credit to Stephen because they've done very well. They changed their system and now play more of a 4-3-3 and young players like Hastie have come in and made a big difference.

"It's going to be a difficult game but we've done our homework. We've assessed them and I'll select a team tomorrow which will hopefully take care of their strengths and exploit their weaknesses."

With just three games remaining and a number of clubs still fighting for their place in the top half of the table come the split, the manager will have one eye on tonight's encounter at the Tony Macaroni Arena where Livingston host Hibs.

"I'll be watching it and if Hibs do win it obviously makes the gap seven points once again but it still doesn't rule us out.

"All we can do is try to get as many points as possible and see where it takes us. We've given ourselves every chance after the win on Wednesday night.

"Hibs and Hearts both have difficult games coming up as do all the teams at this stage of the season. One thing that the St Mirren game did was help to apply a little bit of pressure again.

"If Livingston were to beat Hibs tonight then it would mean we go into tomorrow's match knowing we have the chance to reduce the gap to one point which would make a big impact."

The manager has one new injury concern ahead of the game and has ruled out the players who missed the St Mirren match through injury.

"Blair Alston, David Wotherspoon, Callum Hendry and Niall Keown will all remain out although they are making good progress. Of course Drey Wright remains sidelined.

"One new concern we have is Richard Foster who picked up a nasty one on Wednesday night. Having watched the challenge back the referee absolutely made the correct decision because it was a bad tackle.

"He's got a slight problem with his calf and we're accessing it. He is a doubt but we'll try our hardest to get him fit in time."

Tomorrow's match is a 3PM kick-off at Fir Park. The match is LIVE on Saints TV.

Overseas subscribers will pick up a live feed courtesy of Motherwell TV while UK/Ireland subscribers will receive live audio commentary from Saints TV commentators.

Subscribers can watch the full pre-match previews with the Manager and Zander Clark on Saints TV now.