MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson is planning a normal week ahead of the Betfred Cup final - but he hopes it will be followed by an extraordinary result.
The Fir Park side prepared for Sunday’s showdown with Celtic by beating Aberdeen 2-0, but Robinson will make sure his players do not get carried away in the lead-up to the final.
“We’ll have our normal week, we’re not changing anything for the final,” Robinson said. “If they win the final they might get a day off! We’ll prepare the same way we do for any match.
“We’re not going to down tools and just turn up for the day. We’re there to win, and we genuinely believe we can cause them problems. If we play as we did at Aberdeen then we’ve got every chance.
“We have to enjoy the occasion. Yeah, we’re going to Hampden and we’ll stay in a hotel – but we did that on Friday night so we’re not doing anything too differently.”
Louis Moult took his Motherwell goal tally to 50 with a goal in each half at Pittodrie, looping a header over Joe Lewis from a long free-kick and then producing a brilliant first-time finish from Chris Cadden’s cross.
Robinson added: “To come out with that result gives us a real positivity going into the final and a real belief we can win it. We’re going there to win the game, we’re not going there to make up the numbers.
“I’ve never been to any kind of big occasion, whether it’s the Euros or bits and pieces with Luton and Bournemouth as a player, and not won and enjoyed it. We have to go with a real mindset that we can do something on the day. Somebody has got to beat [Celtic].”
Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty admitted his side missed the influence suspended captain Graeme Shinnie.
“Graeme Shinnie’s always going to be a miss,” he said. “We have enough good players out there to be better and make sure we win the game. But any team would miss Graeme, particularly his drive, with the kind of game it was and the conditions. But we’re not making any excuses about that.”
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