Motherwell hit man admits Rangers frustration, but says goals will come
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was frustrated not to score against Rangers on Saturday, but reckons he's getting closer and closer to top form.
The Australian striker got off the mark in the 3-0 win over Morton in Motherwell's Premier Sports Cup group stages finale, and bagged a late equaliser in the friendly against Hertha Berlin on July 25.
That type of finish, nipping between defenders to sneak the ball in, is what Stamatelopoulos lives for, and he reckons they will come – even if he did everything except score against the Ibrox giants.
He said: 'I definitely should have scored at least one of those chances, but I'm confident that it will come and I can start to put the ball in the back of the net.
'It's just one of those days, really, where it wasn't going for me, but I'm confident that as the season goes on, I'll definitely start hitting the back of the net.
'If I keep banging on the door it will open. I've scored two in the last two, and one of those was a friendly, but I was high on confidence going into this game.
'I think I was just lacking a little bit of sharpness. The header was close, I feel I got up well, I just needed to direct it a bit more, and it's those final little touches.
'But I can definitely see goals coming in the next couple of games.'
Having come through a series of injuries last season, Stamatelopoulos is eager to get back to full fitness and wants more goals like the one against Hertha, where he latched onto a Callum Slattery cross from the right to steer the ball in at the near post.
He said: 'It's what I live for in the box, those little ratty goals, getting in between defenders and finding space, and I felt I was doing that well, it's just the sharpness in finishing it off.
'I definitely think we could have walked away with three points [against Rangers], but we're happy with the point.'
Motherwell head to Paisley on Saturday to take on St Mirren, and Stamatelopoulos said: 'It's a very important game, and hopefully we're going into it, wanting three points, to build on this performance.
'We're happy.'
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