Motherwell are learning good lessons, and opponents are taking note, says star

Elliot Watt says he's never felt more confident in a dressing room

Motherwell star Elliot Watt is learning loads under boss Jens Berthel Askou – and says they get quiz questions in training.

That is transferring onto the pitch, and for 65 minutes at Tynecastle on Saturday they blew Hearts away, which was acknowledged by opponents.

Watt, 25, says that wasn’t something they didn’t already know, but is loving life in Lanarkshire.

He said: “He [Askou] has character and when he speaks, there’s an authority about him.

“You don’t drift off thinking about something else, because he’s always asking questions, so you need to be switched on or you’ll get caught out.

“I feel the meetings have been massive for us, in terms of understanding what he wants, and how he wants us to play.

“By a country mile, it’s a different level of detail.

“Everyone can see how quickly we have adapted to how he wants us to play.

“Cammy Devlin actually mentioned it during the game, he said he’s never seen a Motherwell team play like this before.

“When opposition start recognising that, you take notice, but it’s nothing we don’t already know.

“We’re a good team, and we’re close to being a very, very good team.

“We are implementing what the manager wants to a tee, but it’s just a few little details.

“I’ve never been so confident in a changing room in all my career.

“When you see the players we’ve brought in, the way the manager wants us to play, I’ve never been this confident.”

Callum Slattery put Motherwell ahead in 21 minutes, firing a deflected shot into the bottom right corner.

Tawanda Maswanhise doubled that lead four minutes into the second half, taking a pass from Elijah Just and rifling it into the bottom left corner for his fifth goal of an impressive season.

Just played a key role in No.3 in 62 minutes, collecting Stephen O’Donnell’s superb through ball and beating the offside trap before squaring for Emmanuel Longelo to tap into the net.

It looked like Motherwell were assured of their first three points of the Premiership season at a hushed Tynecastle, until a move ended with Harry Milne lobbing a brilliant shot into the bottom right corner in 65 minutes.

That got Hearts’ tails up and in 73 minutes sub Claudio Braga smashed a shot through Calum Ward’s legs to put his side within a goal – though it needed a VAR check for offside.

When Milne’s shot was parried by Ward in 73 minutes, Braga accepted the gift and slammed the ball into the net to send Tynecastle into raptures.

And Braga would have bagged his hat-trick and won the game but for a superb late save by Ward.

Watt, who signed a two-year deal in the summer after leaving Burton Albion, said: “Unfortunately when they got the goal and got on top of us, we knew what we should have done, but we just didn’t carry it out the way we should have.

“It was one of the most comfortable times I’ve been in a game when we were 3-0 up.

“We were seeing fans leave the stadium, and while you don’t think you’ve cracked it, because Hearts are a quality team who can always come back, we felt in complete control.

“For 65 minutes or so it was a great team performance, but ultimately we have to see it out.

“We have to learn how to take the sting out of it, kill the momentum, but I felt we were a bit too eager at times to get the fourth and kill the game.

“We could have done that by keeping the ball and doing the right things.

“It’s massive for every team, learning how to shut up shop, but we’re a new group with a new manager, so we’ll have to iron that out.”