Admittedly that is nothing but blind optimism from me. There is nothing to suggest we are suddenly going to improve and last week's showing against Inverness Caley Thistle, specifically in the second half, was pretty poor. But we simply can't go on playing like this for much longer. If we do, we'll be adrift at the bottom, Danny Lennon will be out of a job and the players' futures will be in jeopardy. Hopefully this latter point has been knocked into their heads this week and we finally get the sort of display many people such as myself, believe we are capable of.
Of course, Lennon needs to take a good, hard look at himself as well. If you criticise your defence, don't stick with the same defenders the following week, even if you do jiggle them about a bit. Make some changes. At least one of John Potter and Lee Mair needs dropped, because the back line is just a disaster. At least Darren McGregor seems to be doing well and it's a worry that it's the guys with SPL experience, rather than the ones coming up from the second division, that are letting us down. It's refreshing to hear that Lennon is prepared to criticise his players in public and tell them they need to get the finger out, but he needs to back that up with actions and actually make some changes.
Motherwell's home record is pretty poor in the league this season and they've only picked up one point at Fir Park - so usually a game against us is the ideal way to change that record. Fir Park was relatively kind to us under Gus MacPherson and I can't really think of a ground where we got more wins, so hopefully that will continue tomorrow afternoon. However, Motherwell are pretty tricky opponents and we will need to be switched on for the whole 90 minutes, unlike last week where we went to sleep just before half time and never really woke back up.
There will be at least one change to the team responsible for last week's defeat as Nick Hegarty is injured. That is likely to see Steven Robb coming in, if he's fit, but if not it could mean a first start for Jamie McCluskey. I was quite impressed with how he did on Saturday and if he gets himself up to speed quickly he could be a decent acquisition. Paul McQuade will be desperate to get over his mistake from last week but I suspect he'll be benched once again as Gareth Wardlaw's height should keep him in the team, while Paul McGowan is our best player at the moment. The good news is Michael Higdon is back in training, but I suspect the bench is the closest he'll get to the team.
The midfield is something that really needs looked at. Sean Lynch was almost non-existent last week before he was eventually subbed, while it looks as if the end may be near for the legendary Hugh Murray. The problem is, who do you put in to replace them? With Steven Thomson out injured, the only other fit central midfielders available are Garry Brady and McGregor, and the latter is really a centre half. Fortunately, Danny Lennon seems to agree there is a problem and has brought in Patrick Cregg, although it's unlikely he'll start tomorrow. Although David van Zanten did well last week, it's likely he'll be returned to defence as Lee Mair simply isn't a right back. The sooner David Barron is fit again the better. Craig Dargo is also going to be missing, although that's no real surprise.
Motherwell gave myself, and a few other folk I know, a good laugh last December when they replaced Jim Gannon with Craig Brown. However, we weren't laughing for long as he showed he's quite a handy manager despite being out of the game for over five years. Under Gannon, Motherwell seemed to be pretty inconsistent but Brown quickly got that sorted and they went flying up the table, securing a place in Europe (partly because Dundee United were already in the Europa League before they won the Scottish Cup). Their home form may be poor, but their away form has been excellent and they are in the traditional "best of the rest" spot of third place.
As if Brown showing he still has what it takes wasn't weird enough, he's also been working well with the youngsters - a real shock for those of us who can remember the end of his Scotland term when the likes of Colin Hendry and Kevin Gallacher still got run outs despite needing to be woken up before going out for games. Guys like Steven Saunders and Jamie Murphy have come on a great deal in the last few years, while the thought of having to deal with Chris Humphrey will no doubt be giving Jure Travner a few sleepless nights. However, with the relatively old Stephen Craigan at the back it seems Brown does still have some of his old tenancies - although the defender is one of the best centre halfs outside the Old Firm and still plays regularly for Northern Ireland.
Lukas Jutkiewicz and John Ruddy were both huge players for Motherwell last season, but both have now left. However, in Nick Blackman and Darren Randolph, Brown seems to have found a couple of decent replacements. Blackman is on loan from Blackburn (which is appropriate, given his name) and has got his time in Scotland off to a decent start. Randolph has signed for them permanently and has looked pretty solid so far - although how he'll cope with the terrifying threat of a former postman is anyone's guess.
Fir Park is the scene of John Sutton's finest hour in a Saints shirt. On May 12, 2007 Saints were trailing Motherwell 2-0 and staring relegation in the face. On came Sutton and Mehmet and within 10 minutes they'd both scored to level things up. With seven minutes left, Sutton scored what turned out to be his final goal for the club to complete a crazy afternoon and clinch SPL survival. It's perhaps ironic that he went on to join Motherwell just over 12 months later, although it's not so funny that he's since scored twice against us! As they also have former signing target Allan Gow in their team, there's plenty of chance for one of those sod's law, unwritten football rules moments tomorrow.