Motherwell trio near comeback, with defender in line for St Johnstone squad place

On-loan Arsenal winger Mika Biereth and striker Jon Obika are on the right track to make their Motherwell comebacks, but defender Calum Butcher could play a part in the squad at St Johnstone on Saturday.

Boss Stuart Kettlewell is toying with the idea of starting the former Dundee United stopper at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, but it’s more likely that Butcher will start on the bench, if that.

Butcher hasn’t played since injuring his foot in a 1-1 draw at Livingston in the penultimate game of last season, so Kettlewell says they need to be careful.

However, the Fir Park gaffer says Biereth and Obika are on their way back, and they might be involved for the home game against Ross County next weekend.

He said: “We expect Mika back here to train next Thursday. He’s going through the final stages at Arsenal just now.

“I spoke to him on the phone the other day, everything’s going exactly how we expected in the plan with Arsenal, so he’s very upbeat to get himself back, and we expect him to be back on the pitch, training, a week from today, which is a real plus for us.

“Jon is just a fraction further behind, but Calum Butcher trained on Monday, which was a huge boost for us.

“I think everybody saw how good he was for us in the time when I came in last season, and unfortunately playing against Livingston, by just jumping and landing, that created that issue where he had to have surgery.

“He has gone through a pretty rigorous rehab process, but I watched him on the training pitch on Monday and it was an absolute breath of fresh air to see him back in his first full session and to see the levels he hit on Monday.

“I’m not naive enough to think there won’t be a kind of a lapse, a bit of a lull – sometimes that can happen when you’ve