Motherwell’s Stephen O’Donnell Emphasizes Relegation Avoidance Despite Strong League Position

Stephen O’Donnell asserts that Motherwell’s primary objective for the current season is to avoid relegation, even though the team currently occupies fourth place in the Scottish Premiership. Stuart Kettlewell’s squad has secured victories in their last two matches and holds an eight-point lead over Kilmarnock, their league opponents on Friday, who are positioned eighth. Despite their impressive start to the season, defender O’Donnell states that the team will not consider a top-half league finish until their top-flight status is definitively secured. “We’re sitting in a good position,” O’Donnell said. “That’s the first thing. We’re in a really good position. As always, there’s room for improvement.” He added, “And it’s always about building new runs. And hopefully on Friday night we can continue and go three on the bounce.” O’Donnell remarked, “I’d love to say (fourth place) it’s realistic. I’d love to say we should achieve it.” He concluded, “I think we need to focus on getting to a points total that keeps us safe, keeps us in the league, and from there we then build.” Motherwell’s most recent relegation from Scotland’s top flight occurred during the 1983-84 season, a record O’Donnell attributes to the club’s pragmatism and its ability to avoid complacency. The Scotland international continued, “I think that’s how the club has had financial success.” He further explained, “You start from there and then you can kind of try and kick on. So hopefully that’s what we can do.” O’Donnell stated, “We’ve made a hell of a good start to do that, and the sooner we get to a points tally where we feel safe, then we can maybe look to reassess and kick on from there.” He declared, “I’m pessimistic, so we need to make sure that we stay in the league.” O’Donnell continued, “I think that’s where Motherwell wants to be, where Motherwell should be.” He noted, “If we are fourth it’s a hell of a good achievement, or top six, it’s a brilliant achievement as well.” He concluded by saying, “And bottom six is where financially we probably should be. But as a club, we look to overachieve. We look to push ourselves. And that’s certainly what we’re trying to do.”