SCOTT McDONALD hopes Motherwell’s East Fife fright night will kickstart not only their season but his own goal-scoring spree.

The Ladbrokes Premiership team toiled against League Two opposition on Tuesday night at Bayview. Firstly going a goal down to Nathan Austin, they then managed to scrape into extra-time before eventually finishing with a late flurry as goals from Louis Moult, Lionel Ainsworth and the Aussie secured a 3-1 win.

The League Cup second round victory meant Motherwell’s four-game losing streak was brought to a halt. Not only that, it was the night McDonald netted his first goal of the season as he slotted the ball beyond Ryan Goodfellow at the second attempt to put the Lanarkshire club into a 2-1 lead.

For the first few games of the season the former Celtic forward was playing in a deeper midfield role, meaning chances to get on the scoresheet were at a premium.

But now he has finally found his shooting range for Motherwell, McDonald is eager to press on and show the Fir Park support why manager Ian Baraclough was so keen to get him back into the club following a fruitful short-term deal last season.

“I missed a couple. It’s the first one of the season which is nice, it’s always the one you want out the way,” said the former Australian internationalist. “The first couple of games I wasn’t really playing in my natural position but it’s slowly coming back. I think against East Fife is probably the best I’ve done since being back at the club and that comes with sharpness.

“I did miss a whole pre-season but I expect to be firing, but that’s just my own standards.

“It’s been pretty frustrating with some of the results and my performances, so it’s nice to get a goal so I can build on that not just for myself but the team.”

Exiting another cup at the first hurdle, as has been Motherwell’s want of recent times, would have been a disaster not just financially but psychologically.

Baraclough’s team play host to misfiring Kilmarnock at the weekend in what is already being billed as a ‘must-win’ game, even at this early stage of the campaign.

Only a point separates Motherwell from the bottom-placed Rugby Park side, and McDonald is more than aware of the morale boost that has been garnered by overcoming the odds in Methil.

“They were fantastic, let’s not take anything away from East Fife. The way they tried to play the game all credit has to go to them, they gave us a really tough game,” he said.

“Thankfully we stuck to our task. We went a goal down and things could have gone from bad to worse but we kept it, people started to do the right things and a reaction came from the goal, which is a good sign.

“Maybe this is the turn of luck we needed but we haven’t had that in a couple of games, especially at home. We’ve played really well [in losses to Dundee United and Aberdeen] and been killed by a suckerpunch, so maybe it’s turning a little bit.

“Hopefully we can build on this and go into the game against Kilmarnock which is big. They’ve been struggling a bit as well of late so we need to be on the front foot and get the three points.

“When you haven’t won for four games everyone is saying the same, so just to break that is a great thing. We need to build on it now.

“There’s no point winning this one and not working on it. The cup runs are fantastic, we want one, but we need to build in the league. We don’t want to be in the same situation we were in last year, that’s for sure.”