Motherwell boss turns off from title race as what he's 'trying to block out' after late Rangers win revealed

The Fir Park boss saw his side cement their place in the top four with a richly deserved 3-2 win over Rangers at Ibrox. Racing into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Lukas Fadinger and Emmanuel Longelo, they were pegged back by strikes from Youssef Chermiti and Nico Raskin the second period. However, a deflected strike in the last minute from Emmanuel Longelo sealed a famous win at Ibrox.

Trailing league leaders Hearts by 16 points at the top of the table, Motherwell are already mathematically out of the race for the title with four games remaining. However, the 43-year-old’s side remain one of the stories of the season, having being tipped by many for relegation at the start of the season and now in pole position for a European place.

“I think the game was very open from start to finish,” said Berthel Askou. “I knew there was going to be chances in both ends. I saw an opportunity to get some fresh players in up front who could really take them on, in Ibi (Ibrahim Said) and Cooky (Regan Charles-Cook) in particular, who could really run with them. We knew they were going to get chances because they can put you under huge pressure, especially on the set plays. They have good one-on-one players on the side and we also knew that they were still open and going to be even more open at the back.

“I am a little bit sick and tired of hearing us being ‘kingmakers’. We want to decide our own fate. We don’t care at all who you crown as kings of the season. This club is overperforming in many ways but I also know what we are capable of. We are right there, maybe a little bit below, and we just want to decide our fate. “

The Danish head coach went into the game against Rangers on the back of a five-game run without a win, but felt they looked back to their best in the win over Rangers. Asked if there was a slight frustration that Motherwell were unable prolong their excellent performances more into recent weeks, he said: “I am trying to block that out and just enjoy the three points. I was hoping nobody would ask me that. We are back on top in terms of where we want to be with performances and getting results.

“Of course we haven’t got the maximum out of the season. There has been a lot of talk about our slow start but you have to remember that a lot of our players didn't have momentum from last season. It was a new group and some of them didn’t play a lot last year. Elliot [Watt] didn’t play in the last nine games for St Johnstone as he wasn’t deemed good enough to help St Johnstone in a relegation battle. It took a bit of time bit time to find our best level but we are in a good position to reach out for something. The ambitions haven’t become smaller. They are only growing.”

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