MOTHERWELL manager Stuart Kettlewell will take inspiration from their support and Wednesday’s win at Tannadice as he bids to make his team as competitive as they can be against Rangers.

Motherwell moved three points behind Rangers in the top four of the William Hill Premiership on Wednesday thanks to a 2-1 win over Dundee United at Tannadice, while the Light Blues lost at Aberdeen.

The difference between the teams in the league is Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Steelmen at Hampden early in the season and they both return to the national stadium on Sunday in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

More than 8,000 Well fans will make the journey to Hampden while Rangers supporters find themselves struggling to come to terms with slipping nine points behind both Celtic and Aberdeen in the league.

Kettlewell said in a club video: “It’s a massive occasion for us as a football club. I’m delighted that myself, the staff and the players have been able to give the supporters that occasion to look forward to.

“They travelled again in their numbers. It’s difficult financially to be paying for your semi-final ticket, to get to Tannadice on a Wednesday night, to come through the roadworks and the traffic, but I tell you what, they do it, they do it manfully, they are 100 per cent behind us.

“And hopefully Sunday can be a day we look forward to and we acquit ourselves really, really well.

“Always the expectation will be that Rangers beat us, that’s simple, that how it always is in Scottish football.

“But if we can get that type of performance and a lot of the ones we have had over the course of the season, I believe that this group can be unbelievably competitive. And who knows where that takes you in cup competitions?”

Vice-captain Stephen O’Donnell is a doubt for Hampden after limping off at Tannadice while skipper Paul McGinn is one of a number of long-term absentees, but Kettlewell has two players coming back in after being unavailable for the midweek clash.

“We will pick up the pieces with one or two knocks and niggles that we have, we will welcome Liam Gordon and Tony Watt back in the squad, which is good because we need that extra strength in depth because physically the players have exerted a lot on Sunday and Wednesday,” he said.

“But you always get a spring in your step with a win and that tees us up well for Sunday.”