Stuart Kettlewell confirms he will be in Motherwell dugout for Hearts clash

Stuart Kettlewell will be in the Motherwell dugout for their Premiership game against Hearts this weekend.

The caretaker boss got off to a winning start with Wednesday’s 2-1 win over St Mirren after he replaced Steven Hammell just a few days earlier.

The club have been holding talks with potential candidates for the job with Kettlewell thought to be on an initial four-man shortlist.

Ian Holloway, Jack Ross and Grant McCann were the others on the list but Ross has reportedly pulled out of the running after negotiations were held on Thursday.

Club chiefs will now meet with Holloway and McCann before making any decision, but Kettlewell will do his chances no harm if he can get a result against the Edinburgh side on Sunday.

Speaking at his Friday press conference ahead of the game, he said: “It’s been made very clear, I had a chat with the board and they asked me to take the game again on Sunday. So that makes it really clear for the players and everybody surrounding the football club.

“It has been broken up into two chunks, we had a couple of days preparation for St Mirren and it will be the same again for Hearts.

“So that wee bit of certainty is there and we know what we are going to do for the next couple of days.

“What happens after after that? I don’t know and I won’t until an official decision is made on that, but that is fine by me- it gives me the opportunity in the next couple of days to understand the messages we need to put across to the players.

“We have to approach the game with confidence and believe in ourselves but we are under no illusions that it’s going to be anything other than a very difficult game.

“I really admire how Hearts play, I really like how they play, they have a lot of good players and clearly a good manager, but it’s a challenge we have to enjoy.”