Blair Spittal keen to go on another cup run as Motherwell dream of silverware

Motherwell’s Blair Spittal recalled an early-career cup run which he wants to improve upon as he looked forward to the ViaPlay Cup last-16 tie against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday.

In his first season as a full-time footballer, the midfielder was part of the Dundee United squad that made it all the way to the 2015 League Cup final only to lose 2-0 to Celtic at Hampden Park.

Spittal subsequently joined Ross County and then Partick Thistle before signing for the Steelmen in May, 2022, and he is hoping for a return to the national stadium for the chance to win silverware.

The 27-year-old said: “When I was in my first year at Dundee United we were lucky enough to get to the final and lost 2-0 to Celtic.

“That was my first year in full-time football and you get a taste of it in the first year, and you are told to take advantage of these experiences as they don’t come round very often and you don’t take it too seriously.

“You feel those opportunities will keep coming but obviously they don’t.

“I was on the bench that day but, having experienced that, it is something you want to do again.

“Obviously it was a long time ago but here we feel we are in a good place to go on a good cup run in both competitions and hopefully we can get back to Hampden this year.

“In the past you have seen Motherwell get to cup finals, I watched from outside and felt envious. You want a taste of that yourself.

“In terms of league positions, if you finish fourth or third place – everyone remembers the teams that achieve something and won competitions.

“Everybody remembers and talks about the Motherwell team which won the Scottish Cup in 1991, they are held in high regards and still spoken about to this day.

“It is something for us, as players, to look up to and hopefully we can achieve success similar to that. It is up to us to create our own piece of history.

“It is going to be a tough game on Saturday but to get far in cup competitions you have to go to tough places.”

The extent of Jon Obika’s hamstring injury is to be assessed but he will miss out, while Calum Butcher (foot) remains sidelined and the game comes too early for Harry Paton (knock).

Meanwhile, midfielder Barry Maguire has been loaned to National League side Kidderminster until January.

The 25-year-old featured three times off the bench during the Viaplay Cup group stage after spending the second half of last season on loan at Dundee.