Motherwell goal hero will know it's time to pack it in when he loses buzz for the game

Daily Record

7 days ago

Stephen O'Donnell says he still gets the same excitement and wants to learn under new boss
Stephen O'Donnell says it will be time to pack it in when he's not excited about a new season, and was buzzing after scoring Motherwell's winner at Stenhousemuir.
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Defender O'Donnell struck in 41 minutes to take the win and leave the Steelmen on eight points, going into last night's [Tuesday's] Premier Sports Cup Group G showdown at home to Morton where they aimed to stay top of the table for a last 16 spot.
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At 33, Wishaw ace O'Donnell is keen to show he's keen to learn new things, and play a part in Jens Berthel Askou's new-look side.
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O'Donnell said: 'I don't know if it was a good first goal of the season, but it was a good start, and my first 90 minutes.
'I was just buzzing with the goal, and happy it went in.
'If I didn't have the same hunger, desire, drive and excitement at the start of the new season, when the competitive matches come, the day I'm not excited about that is the day I maybe need to think about packing it in.
'I'm full of excitement, loving it, loving the new challenge with the manager, and hopefully it will be a positive season.
'It has been good. Different ideas, so it's really good. At 33, I'm learning new things, showing I can improve, and I want to show I can perform in the system.'
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Callum Slattery was the architect of most of Motherwell's good play for the 68 minutes he was on the pitch at Ochilview.
His cross was met with a powerful header by Tawanda Maswanhise that Darren Jamieson clawed over, and the keeper kept out the midfielder's 19-yard free kick with a terrific finger-tip save.
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Slattery's corner led to O'Donnell smashing in the winner, and his cross in the second half was met on the volley by Eseosa Sule, only for the sub to be thwarted by an instinctive save.
O'Donnell said: 'I thought we played a lot better than we did against Clyde. The other night [2-1 win at home to Peterhead last Tuesday] it was tough in spells, but we got the win, and there were more positives.
'I thought today we played well. We could have been a bit more clinical, but we were very much in control, especially in the first half, which is everything the manager is asking for us to do, and bring.
'Within that, there's going to be wee mistakes, but as long as we keep doing the principles right, we should improve.'