Motherwell assistant manager Keith Lasley admits there will be a sense of deja vu about their preparations for the rearranged trip to Kilmarnock but they will take some lessons from the abandoned game.
Both teams were given 48 hours’ notice to get the Ladbrokes Premiership game on after Wednesday’s match fell foul of heavy fog midway through.
Lasley said: “It’s just a funny situation. It happened so quickly, we can get the game on but we are looking forward to the game. Saturday is probably better for our fans to get down there as well.
“We didn’t know when it was going to be so it was hard to plan our training around that but once we found out it was no problem. We have had a couple of days to prepare.
“You analyse your opponents and run through certain things in training so we will probably repeat a bit of stuff. But even though it was only a half there were things we could work on and hopefully do better.”
Killie had planned a trip to Tenerife for William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final weekend while Motherwell had given their players the weekend off, only to tell them they were needed.
But Lasley admits telling his family was more difficult than the squad after a day out at a trampoline park was shelved.
“I’ve definitely had a couple of difficult conversations with my two children, that’s for sure, and my wife,” the former Well captain said.
“They will be there, season-ticket holders, it’s maybe just a step down from Flip Out.
“But that’s the job, it’s unusual. I’m sure they will get over it. If we win on Saturday we will definitely get over it.
“We have a couple of breaks coming up so, in terms of time off with family, which we know is important for players, we will get the opportunity to do that in a couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile, the Well Society has “expressed its disappointment” at Kilmarnock’s decision to charge admission fees on Saturday for the 650 Motherwell fans who queued for up to 45 minutes to get vouchers for free entry.
Motherwell stepped in to pay the £5/£3 entry fees for those fans who have made the journey already.
A statement from the fans group, which holds a majority stake in the club, read: “We believe that it is unfair that supporters who made the journey to Ayrshire and paid full gate price to attend the game will now be penalised for doing so, asked to pay the same entry price as those who did not attend on Wednesday evening.
“We also believe that this move is compounded somewhat by the news that Kilmarnock season-ticket holders will not be subject to these gate prices and recognise that charging our supporters appears to go against Kilmarnock’s own terms and conditions concerning abandoned matches.”
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