MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson says that it is time for the Fir Park fans to repay his players for the memories they gave them last season by helping to dig his team out of their current run of poor results.

Robinson praised the majority of Motherwell supporters for sticking with their side through a sticky start to the season that has seen the Steelmen pick up just four points from their opening seven games.

But he has issued a rallying call for the Fir Park faithful to unite behind the cause to help them see off what is set to be a formidable challenge against high-flying Livingston this afternoon, and get their season back on track.

And after reaching two cup finals last term he reckons it is the least his players deserve.

“The vast majority of our fans have been behind us,” Robinson said. “They see that the same group of players who gave them two cup finals and memories they can take with them forever. So now the boys need their support, they need their backing and I’m confident we’ll turn the corner.

“[Livingston] know what they’re good at and they do it very well and we have to match that, and we need everybody behind us.

“It’s that mentality and dealing with adversity and dealing with the crowd at times. The vast majority have been brilliant with the players and now’s the time we need them.

“We gave them two cup finals last year and now we want that support, we want the fans right behind us.”

Today’s visitors to Lanarkshire have perhaps picked up the ‘physical’ tag that was attributed to Robinson’s men during the last campaign, and while the Motherwell boss thinks there is more to Livi than the label suggests, he doesn’t think either his own men or Gary Holt’s have anything to feel ashamed about when it comes to their style of play.

“People have questioned how they play – I say fair play to them,” Robinson said.

“I hear all these people who’ve just come through their coaching badges and pundits that you have to play a certain way.

“You play with the squad you can afford. You play to their strengths and Livingston have very much done that and that’s why they’ve been successful.

“There’s a lot of people that have never managed who have no idea what the budgets are of probably the bottom six in the Premiership and where we can recruit players from.

“For me you play to your strengths. You play to what squads you can put together and play to what squad and finances are available to you.

“People criticised us last year but we need to get back to that. Never be embarrassed about what you can do because we were very successful with it.

“Livingston are the perfect example. They play to their strengths and I admire them.”

Charles Dunne won’t be available for the game despite returning to light training this week, but midfielder Andy Rose is desperate to get back involved after his own short spell out through injury.

He believes that a win today can help turn around Motherwell’s season, and he has vowed that he and his teammates won’t be bullied by the visitors.

“That’s something we take a lot of pride in, being a tough team on the pitch,” Rose said. “Certainly, that should never be overstepped.

“I don’t think you can get away from some of the football we try to play because although we pride on trying to win as many second balls and as many first contacts as possible, we do then get the ball down and play some good football.

“Especially this season there have been a lot of moments in games where we’ve gone toe to toe with some good teams and played some really nice stuff.”