'Stuff of dreams' for Longelo as late equaliser rewards sticking to plan

BBC News

5 days ago

Emmanuel Longelo admits his late equaliser on his league debut for the club was the "stuff of dreams" as Motherwell produced a stirring second-half display to earn an opening day Premiership point against Rangers. The Ibrox side had taken an early lead through James Tavernier's close range header from a corner with the home team initially struggling to implement the style of play manager Jens Berthel Askou seeks.That all changed after half-time with Motherwell perhaps unlucky not to earn a long-awaited home league win over Rangers."I feel like it was a deserved outcome," Longelo explained to BBC Scotland."We stuck to the manager's game plan very well, even though at times it wasn't working well for us. I felt like the boys dug in and I we should have had the victory."He [Berthel-Askou] just kept telling us to believe in ourselves and believe in our qualities. He keeps mentioning to us in training that we're top players and we just have to have that self-belief every time we're on the training pitch and we step out here to just keep believing in ourselves.""I felt like if we took our chances, more clinically in the end, we would have had the three points, but it's a stepping stone for us."At half-time, questions were being posed as to whether Motherwell's, at times, risky desire to play out from the back might be costing them against such opposition. It cost them the opening goal but sticking with it paid off as the home side increasingly took the game to Rangers."It will definitely boost the morale, boost the belief, so our fans can buy into it," the striker continued. "Once they buy into it, it will help us each and every time we step out on this pitch or whenever we travel away. "As long as we keep at it and keep doing what the manager wants us to do, then they'll [the fans] get on board and it will all come together."