Celtic and Rangers are the best, and we want to test ourselves, says Motherwell boss

Stuart Kettlewell reckons Motherwell should embrace the challenge posed by Celtic and Rangers, rather than feeling sorry for themselves over a hectic festive schedule.

Kettlewell watched his side lose 4-0 at Celtic Park on Boxing Day, and must get his squad back on track as they host second-placed Rangers on Sunday.

But rather than feeling sorry for themselves, the Fir Park gaffer says they should embrace the challenge.

He said: “We need to try and get into this mind-set. What’s our aspiration, what’s our ambition as a group of players, staff and club, and for me that’s to test yourself against the best.

“I think if you have any fear or trepidation in that, there’s no point in turning up, there’s no point in being there, or in this environment.

“My challenge to the players, staff and myself is that you have to embrace that.

“If you play at the highest level you have to play every three days. We must have aspirations of seeing if we can push ourselves to the absolute limit in this league, and what might be the fruits of that, which might be playing in Europe and these types of things.

“I believe you have to be robust, you have to be able to put yourself out there continuously, and find a level of consistency.”

Kettlewell added: “At the start of the season, when the fixtures come out, there are a couple of key dates that people look for – Christmas, New Year, what’s your first game, or how do you finish before you go into the split.

“The one thing that was a fact was this was how the fixtures were going to land, so definitely don’t feel sorry for ourselves.

“Try and take the good bits that we had yesterday, and I think there was plenty of that to a point, but we have to play with a wee bit more bravery in possession. I