Stephen Robinson wants Motherwell to keep climbing the table

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson has urged his players to build on their sudden climb up the Scottish Premiership table.

Well jumped three places on Thursday after being awarded 3-0 wins over Kilmarnock and St Mirren after their opponents’ Covid-19 breaches led to the postponement of games against Robinson’s side in October.

They can now go two points off fourth place if they beat Hibernian at Fir Park on Saturday.

“It is certainly an incentive and it’s an incentive we could have had if we played the games anyway,” Robinson said.

“Without the games being played and having to catch up, you are always going to be in a false position.

“It does obviously give you a boost that we have the potential to catch Hibs. It looks a long way off when you have games in hand and you have the potential to get injuries and you hope you don’t get a Covid case or track and trace.

“So we are just looking forward to trying to win on Saturday and concentrate solely on that.”

Robinson was unhappy with his players after their Betfred Cup exit against St Johnstone last weekend but he has focused on the positives since then.

“If we play at the top of our game we have nothing to fear,” he said. “I did say there were players off their game last week but when I watched the game back, there is nothing between the two sides.

“We have no divine right to beat St Johnstone. St Johnstone are the same size of club as us, very similar players, good squad, good manager. And on the day they got things that fell for them and we got punished for a couple of mistakes.

“It’s a lesson learned and there is no reason why we cannot go on to beat Hibs. We have proved that against teams like Aberdeen and coped with playing against teams like Hibs.

“There is no reason if we play at the top of our game, but you need 11 players to do that.

“Nobody ever means to make mistakes. They are a good bunch of boys. We put an arm round them this week and encouraged them.”

Midfielders Allan Campbell and Barry Maguire returned to training on Wednesday after being ordered to self-isolate on their return from Scotland Under-21 duty.

“It might be an ask for both of them to start,” Robinson said. “They have not been able to do any kind of running. I think wee Allan has a gym in his house so he will be OK.

“They are both very fit and dedicated boys so that will be a decision we have to make.”