STEVIE HAMMELL is quickly becoming the voice of reason in a Motherwell crisis.

One month ago the veteran midfielder emerged from the away dressing room at Tynecastle to speak to the assembled press pack and attempt to pick his way through a bruising 6-0 defeat.

It was the club’s heaviest defeat in five years as they were outdone in a result that also brought to a halt their six-game unbeaten run.

Skip forward to the present, and the Steelmen have still to sample victory in the wake of their Tynie torment.

The latest blow came on Saturday when Kilmarnock inflicted a 2-0 home defeat on Mark McGhee’s men to send them spinning into the Ladbrokes Premiership relegation play-off spot.

Once again it was Hammell who was called upon to give his opinion on what had just taken place. Given the loss was Motherwell’s fifth in six games, there was understandably not much cheer coming from the sombre 33-year-old.

“The thing about the Hearts game was we were going into it high on confidence,” said Hammell, who will face Dundee United at Tannadice tomorrow night just three days before his 34th birthday.

“We had a lot of changes in that game and it didn’t really get going. With that in mind, we tried to put it to bed straight away.

“Since then, we’ve not really turned it round at all. It’s been pretty poor to be honest and we really need to get to the bottom of it and kick on. We must learn from this, come in early and look to a massive game on Tuesday.”

He added: “We didn’t expect this at all. We came in with a game plan to go and be effective in the final third and try to keep them and their decent players up front at bay, but it didn’t go to plan. They beat us with two goals that were poor and they didn’t have to work hard for it.”

Many Motherwell fans expected their team to show a response to a recent slump that was compounded last week as a 90th-minute Inverness winner sent them spinning out of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

In truth, it never really arrived. A drab first half caused the 3300 home supporters inside Fir Park to boo their team off at the interval, while second-half Killie goals from Greg Kiltie and Craig Slater triggered an encore at the full-time whistle.

“It is understandable [the booing],” said Hammell. “I was up there for large parts of last season [through injury] and it is frustrating to watch. There’s no denying that.

“What I would say, and the fans will have heard it before, is that we need to stick together. We have been through a lot of hard times at this club before and that’s what has got us through it. Hopefully it will be the case again.”

Those around the Lanarkshire club don’t need long memories to recall one of the toughest of those spells.

It came in the form of last season’s campaign when Motherwell only just held on to their top-flight status that has stood for three decades with a 6-1 play-off win over Rangers.

The memories and stresses of that fight are still fresh in Hammell’s mind, and the Well left-back is keen to use it as a motivator rather than let it encourage complacency.

“The play-offs are horrible,” he said. “There is still a long way to go between now and then but to see yourself in this position hurts. We need to do everything we can as a club, a team, as a squad of players and staff to get us out of this because the play-offs last season were no fun at all.

“You know what is at stake. As much as the message beforehand was that things wouldn’t change, but it would have. If you go down a division, especially the difference between Premiership and Championship, it’s huge.

“There are a lot of financial benefits, it’s not just about the players and the coaching staff. It’s also about the staff in and around the place that you consider friends. All that is at stake.

“It’s not like we are cut adrift, though. There is a lot of football still to be played between now and then and it’s important that as difficult as it is, that we stick together.”