Dan Casey: Hearts clash is ‘like a cup final’ for Motherwell ahead of split

Dan Casey recognises the magnitude of Motherwell’s William Hill Premiership clash with Hearts at Fir Park on Saturday.

The race for a top-six place which will take away the pressure of a possible relegation battle comes to the boil this weekend in the final pre-split game.

The Jambos are in sixth place on 39 points with a goal difference of minus one while St Mirren, at home to Ross County, are seventh with 38 points and a goal difference of minus 10.

The Steelmen are one place behind on the same points with a goal difference of minus 19 while there are only five points separating Hearts and Dundee, who are in the relegation play-off spot with St Johnstone a further five points behind going into the final six games of the season.

To add to the tension, Motherwell, Hearts and St Mirren all lost last weekend and Irish defender Casey said: “They don’t come how much bigger I think. It’s like a cup final for us.

“Obviously, I think it’s clear to everyone that it’s not in our hands, but we can only do what we can do so we’re fully focused on us.

“Not necessarily (more pressure on Hearts) because we had an opportunity last week against Kilmarnock and we lost and obviously St Mirren did.

“I think it’s that type of league. You can’t take any points for granted. And obviously we’re all hurting, all three teams.

“Everyone’s going to be ready and raring to go and, for our sake, I hope we could get the best outcome possible.

“Listen, you can dragged into it. It’s so tight down there. Look at the weekend. Celtic the best team in the league against St Johnstone, bottom, and St Johnstone beat them so anything could happen.

“We just want to look at finishing as high as we can and obviously it’s a bonus that we wouldn’t be able to get involved in the relegation fight.

“Hearts have a great squad, some very good players. I think on their day they are a match for anyone.

“But it’s just as I said before, it’s a tough league, you can’t take any game for granted. And we know we’re going to be in for a hard game this weekend, so we just need to be ready for it.”