MOTHERWELL'S suffering support waited two months to be given something to cheer about last Saturday.

Ian Baraclough has urged his players to make sure it is only a seven-day wait before the Fir Park crowd get to celebrate a win again.

As Well and Inverness walked out the tunnel in the Phil O'Donnell Stand last week, a banner was displayed in the opposing East Stand with clear instruction for the home team scrawled across it: 'Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight'.

Their battle cry - inspired bizarrely by Bob Marley - was answered in spades by a performance dripping with courage, fight and urgency.

With Kilmarnock coming to town tomorrow, bringing with them the opportunity for Motherwell to pull clear of the bottom of the SPFL Premiership, Baraclough is looking for a repeat performance on both sides of the white line.

"The players gave the fans something to cheer about last week and the supporters certainly did that," said the manager.

"They are a passionate crowd who want to see people working hard, throwing themselves into challenges, getting in the face of the opposition. If they do that they will get behind us and they played a massive part in the win last week.

"I can't speak for the players but I had time to look over and see it. I saw it and it does give you something extra. Everyone wants this club to do well, everyone wants the team to perform.

"We need to be in this division next season. The fans played their part in the East Stand, but not just them, it was the whole crowd. You could hear it.

"It makes such a difference when we do perform that way. It suddenly gets the fans cheering, clapping and encouraging every tackle and every foray forward."

Baraclough has shown since he arrived at the club back in December that he is not afraid to make big decisions.

That was evident again in his team selection last week as John Sutton, Motherwell's leading goalscorer, was dropped to the bench.

He also started six players who were not here at the start of the season.

It was a gamble that paid off, and Baraclough told SportTimes he is content he has enough in reserve to help lighten the load that a injury-ravaged squad has been carrying since the start of the campaign.

"You have to make big decisions," he said, "and one of the biggest decisions last weekend was leaving out John Sutton, who is our top scorer.

"I spoke to him the day before the game and said to him 'make sure you are ready for the game to make an impact', and he did that.

"I look at things like that and John is an immaculate professional. He has done everything right and has shouldered a lot of responsibility all season on carrying the fight forward.

"We can take that pressure off with Scott McDonald, Lee Erwin and Craig Moore. Bob McHugh is coming back from injury, too."

Reflecting on his team's performance from last weekend, he added: "We beat a good side through hard work, but we also went and played in the right areas when we got a chance.

"It wasn't easy conditions to play in but we dealt with that and managed the game in the right way. We didn't take any chances when we didn't need to in our own half, and it caused them to make mistakes.

"It's now important we replicate what we did last weekend."