Head coach Neil Critchley says preparation has remained the same as the Jambos prepare for their final pre-split match of the season.
The men in maroon head to North Lanarkshire safe in the knowledge that if they pick up three points at Fir Park, they will be the final team in the top six prior to the league split and with a Scottish Cup semi-final on the horizon, Critchley admits it’s full focus on Motherwell.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, the head coach said:
“It's an important game, because of the situation and how tight the league is. The full focus from everybody is on the top six or the split, because it's the last game before that happens. You've got to remember there's another five games to go after that, so it's not like the end of the season. It sort of feels like that because it's coming to a bit of a crescendo this weekend.
“Our preparation has been the same as it's always been, and we're going there to try and play how we can play the game, like we did last weekend against Dundee United, in my opinion. If we can play to a similar level with a little bit of extra quality and intelligence in front of the goal, then I'm sure we'll get the result that we need.”
The Jambos announced their first summer signing on Thursday with the capture of Vålerenga captain Christian Borchgrevink, who will join the club in June when the transfer window officially opens.
“He is someone who we’ve obviously been analysing and assessing for quite a period of time,” added Critchley. “We want a competitive squad, and we want to try and always improve the team. We think Christian, at the age of 25, has got his best years in front of him.
“He's captain of a big club, Vålerenga. He's got obvious leadership qualities, and he's the right type of character we want to bring to this football club, as well as his ability. We want best for best to improve the standard of the group all the time, and we think Christian will bring that to the club.”
Critchley confirmed that the club will not be taking up the option to make Gerald Taylor’s deal permanent this summer.
The Costa-Rican full back joined the club from Saprissa in the summer but has struggled with injuries this season and will return to his parent club in the summer upon the expiry of his loan deal.
“We won't be taking up Gerald's option at the end of this season,” said Critchley. “He's still with us now, we're still hopeful he'll be able to play between now and the end of the season. But that means that, yeah, we've informed him that his option won't be, we won't be taking that for next season.
“It's been really unfortunate. When I came in, he was injured, he had a significant injury, I think it was late September, I came in in October. And then he got fit, it was just the end of December, really early in January, so he had a good few months out. Come back, he's had some minutes, played some games, and then gets injured again with another quite significant injury on international duty.
"So, it's been really a stop-start, it's not easy. And when you're adapting to a new country and new culture, you need to be playing games to speed that process up, and Gerald's unfortunately not had that.”
You can watch Neil’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
