Stuart Kettlewell tells Motherwell the pressure is still on despite revival

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell insists he will continue to put pressure on his players, despite victory over Hibernian easing their relegation worries.

The 3-1 success over the Leith outfit propelled Motherwell 11 points clear of basement team Dundee United with three games to go before the split.

Since taking the reins from Steven Hammell, Kettlewell has masterminded four wins and a draw from six matches.

However, the former Ross County boss is adamant there will be no let-up in his demands, even though his side are out of immediate relegation trouble.

He said: “There is no relief. You thrive on that bit of pressure.

“I think I get the best out of myself, but I also think you get the best out of players when that bit of pressure is on.

“But I’ve said to them that it just doesn’t become that you enjoy three points at Easter Road and think our job is done.

“What it does is tees us up to two massive games to come and I’ll single that down to Livingston.”

The visitors took a seventh-minute lead through Sean Goss’ stunning free-kick. Kevin Van Veen notched a double with a penalty and free-kick either side of a Kevin Nisbet goal for Hibs.

Van Veen took his tally for the campaign to 20, despite claiming he fell below his own standards.

Kettlewell added: “Kevin has been terrific since he came in. I’m not making it all about him, but in the last 10 minutes you see the energy levels in pressing and working.

“The reason you keep him on the park is evident. That’s the quality he has got.

“He’s a personality, he’s a big character in our dressing room. Kevin said something to me after the game which was really interesting.

“He felt he was short of his levels, but his team-mates really stepped forward. That’s what we are trying to create here. I thought we were good for our three points.”

Hibs manager Lee Johnson was at a loss to explain his team’s poor performance as the Edinburgh club fell to a third straight defeat.

He said: “We needed more composure and I thought it was only Joe Newell when he came on that looked like he had an ounce of technical ability. That was baffling to me.

“This is what happens, sometimes individuals have bad days. We’ve had a lot of that today. But it doesn’t mean I don’t believe they’re a good team or good players.

“Both halves were poor from us. When we got back to 2-1 there’s a natural momentum shift, but it didn’t really happen. They scored three goals from dead balls.

“There’s no excuses for our performance or my performance. I’m really upset with it.”