Motherwell boss sees Hearts fan factor that could create history at Fir Park and advantage Jambos won't have

Jens Berthel Askou says Motherwell have learned their lessons from their six-goal thriller with Hearts - as the Fir Park boss expects a noisy encounter when the Jambos come to ML1.

A packed Fir Park is expected as joint-third hosts first in the Premiership, having played out a 3-3 draw last time out. Hearts came back from three goals down to take a point in Gorgie last time out and Askou - who’s side beat Hibs 2-0 midweek - says there’s been plenty taken from how they let points slip out their grasp.

While a sold-out away end will bring the noise, it’s not the capacity Tynecastle that Motherwell faced. The game attendance could reach the highest attended non-Old Firm game since 2011 in North Lanarkshire depending on home turnout and Askou reckons the scene is set for a cracker, with Hearts’ first loss at Aberdeen not expected to be a factor.

Motherwell on Hearts

He said: “Look, we all follow football and have been involved in football for many, many years, and you see even the best teams in the world, they struggle winning every game. So I'm not surprised that Hearts eventually lost a football game. It will happen to anyone and I don't think it will ruin their confidence or their flow or the way they approach the game.

“I really don't. I think they're extremely excited to come here and show that they can deal with our play better than they did from the beginning last time and really make it a challenging game for us to play.

“Their away section is sold out, which is not something that often happens. It means that we have a real opportunity here on Saturday to create a scene that could be historic from numbers in terms of against teams outside the Old Firm, which is a great opportunity for us, as a club and for the supporters.

What impact will fans play on Hearts vs Motherwell

“It will set the scene for an extremely intensive game against two sides who have a lot of confidence and who have had a very good season so far. I think the mental part of it was something we addressed really in detail, how to deal with that, and used that as an example in the following couple of weeks.

“I think we've learned a lot from that and grown, how we should deal and how we dealt with the last 30, 35 minutes of the game. Obviously, it's a different scenery here. They have massive support but we will have the same. We won't be blown out of the stadium by 20,000 supporters, like you sometimes have the feeling you do when you play at Tynecastle.

“But we have learned and we have grown, and hopefully we will have that in mind. I think we've seen that, and I have seen that with the squad, that we've been able to deal with tight games. Where we have had everything to lose in the last period, and that's going to be a good test against a very, very strong team on Saturday.”