Motherwell captain Keith Lasley has told fans of the Steelmen not to panic after suffering another disappointing pre-season result.

The 4-1 defeat to Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday, as well as a 3-1 loss at Cowdenbeath last week, has many supporters worried ahead of Saturday’s League Cup clash with Rangers.

Lasley is confident though that those results will count for nothing when the real action gets underway this weekend.

“I’ve been involved in enough pre-seasons now to know that results don’t dictate how you are going to follow on from that, that’s for sure,” Lasley said.

“We won’t be getting too caught up in a good way or a bad way with pre-season results, it’s all about building on the physical and tactical aspects of our play.

“I’m sure the manager will put those things at the top of his priority list as what he wants to take out of these games, so as a group of players we don’t get too upset about losing games at this stage.

“We just want to make sure that we are in the best possible physical and mental shape when it comes to the start of the competitive action.

“We’re doing a lot of hard work out on the training pitch and now we’re coming into the games again the anticipation is starting to build.

“It’s been good and we’re looking forward to the challenges that are ahead of us.

“We know that game is just round the corner, and while you would normally have a bit of a longer build up to a game of that magnitude, it’s certainly something that we’ll be ready for and we’re looking forward to.

“It’ll be a great atmosphere, it’s on the television, and these are the types of games you want to be involved in.

“Unfortunately for me I’m going to miss it through suspension, but for my teammates it’s a great way to start off. We’ll arrive at the game in the best possible frame of mind and we’ll be ready to go.”

Lasley’s red card against Aberdeen at the tail end of last season is the reason he will sit the Rangers match out, but he is relishing the chance to go take on the Ibrox men again this season.

In particular, he is looking forward to what promises to be a tasty midfield battle when he comes up against Joey Barton.

“When I came into the Motherwell team at first – and that’s a long time ago now – we used to play against Rangers and Celtic teams full of stars then,” he said.

“The likes of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Claudio Reyna, Jorg Albertz, Neil Lennon, Stan Petrov – all these guys.

“No matter what age you are, but particularly for a young player, the chance to go and test yourself against these guys was always a massive thing and a real buzz.

“The more players of high stature the better, and I’m really looking forward to taking on Rangers now that they’re back, and Celtic of course with the Brendan Rodgers factor.

“I’m sure Joey will find it a challenge up here. I know he’s stated his aim is to come up and be the best player, and he may well go on to do that, but I think he’ll find out pretty soon that it’s not going to be a walk in the park for him and he’ll come up against some decent players who are capable of giving him some tough afternoons.

“I don’t know Joey Barton personally, but he certainly brings excitement for the sports writers and he’ll fill plenty of column inches, which I think is a good thing.

“People say we don’t have any characters left in the game, so let’s have a few Twitter spats and raise the profile of the game a little bit.

“It seems as if him and Scott Brown are going to have an interesting season! I’ve been having a wee chuckle at that battle, they haven’t even set foot on the pitch together and there’s a bit of needle there.

“I’m looking forward to it all-round, I think it’s going to be a cracking season and I can’t wait to get started.”