Motherwell need to bring in goalkeeper back-up as boss reveals situation is 'not perfect'

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell admits he needs to bring in a goalkeeper ahead of Saturday's Scottish Cup tie at St Johnstone, in a situation that’s “not perfect”.

First-choice Aston Oxborough is out for up to three months with a dislocated thumb, understudy Krisztian Hegyi has been recalled from his loan by West Ham after a lack of game-time, and Matty Connelly – who is on loan at Lowland League leaders East Kilbride – is cup-tied.

Archie Mair is on loan from Norwich City until the end of this season, and made his debut in the 3-1 defeat at Hibs on Saturday, but Kettlewell needs a substitute.

He said: “It’s not perfect. Losing Krisztian last week, we’re really disappointed in how that came about, and the feedback that we’ve had from Aston.

“I’m delighted to get Archie in. I’m delighted with his mentality as well, because even at that point we weren’t 100 per cent sure how long Aston would be out for, or even whether he would have been out last weekend.

“Archie jumped in with both feet, he was desperate to get up here, to put himself in this environment and get an opportunity to play at this level.

“In terms of his goalkeeping, I said after the game that he didn’t make a single save in the game against Hibs, and we lost three goals.

“He’s going to have days where he will have to make stops and be more active in the game, but I’ve been delighted with him so far.

“It becomes pretty evident that we need to try and get another in. Matty Connelly sat on the bench for us, he’s cup-tied this weekend, he’s played for East Kilbride.

“We’ve been big in trying to develop Matty as well; I’m desperate for him to continue playing games and not sit on a bench.

“So we’re actively trying really hard to try and improve that department.”