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Daily Record
Sport
Andy McGilvray

Motherwell boss Steven Hammell aims to add firepower after Livi draw

Motherwell boss Steven Hammell aims to add firepower to his squad ahead of Sunday's Premiership visit by Hibs after taking only a point from Livingston in a game he feels his side did enough to win.

Hammell again pointed to a lack of a clinical edge after the 1-1 draw, and hopes to add at least one player, hinting that it's to bolster their forward line.

Dutch striker Kevin van Veen levelled for the visitors in 42 minutes at the Tony Macaroni Arena, two minutes after Livi's Morgan Boyes had headed them into the lead.

But van Veen then hit the bar twice in the second half as Motherwell again got into double figures for chances created, but failed to take most of them.

That came after Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly had saved Nicky Devlin's penalty, only for him to 'score' the rebound.

However, a VAR check spotted that Kelly had been off his line, and Devlin had handled the ball into the net, with referee David Munro ordering a retake - which the Well shot-stopper saved.

Hammell said: "It was very frustrating again. We came here to win the game and I felt like after we got through the initial spell of the game, we had most of the game.

"I felt it was a game that, especially in the second half, we dominated.

Dutch striker Kevin van Veen levelled for Motherwell and twice hit the bar in the second half, but was unable to add to his tally (SNS Group)

"We had 15 or 16 shots at goal, hit the bar a couple of times, we've done enough there in the second half to come away with three points, for sure.

"For most of this season we've done well. We've played well, got into good scenarios.

"We created enough within the game, but again it's just being clinical, it's about taking your chances when they come - and it's big chances, not little half-chances, and big moments in the game, but that's where we fell short.

"That would have been the difference in winning this."

Motherwell have been linked with a loan for Birmingham forward Jonathan Leko, and while Hammell wouldn't be drawn on that, he did say there are targets.

"We need a bit of help at the top end of the pitch," he said. "Even at the end there we put Stuart McKinstry on and having the options to bring people off the bench is a massive part of the game nowadays.

Goalkeeper Liam Kelly saved two penalties for Motherwell before Livingston took the lead (SNS Group)

"The impact you can make, especially at the top end of the pitch, is massive, and we don't really have that just now, in terms of what we can do, freshening it up and adding more firepower.

"That's something we've not really got at our disposal right now and it's something we're looking at to improve.

Motherwell boss Steven Hammell aims to add to his squad before the weekend (SNS Group)

"We're hoping to get at least one in before the weekend and I hope we can do that, but until then I don't think it's right to speak about other teams' players.

"But there is more than one player that we're enquiring about and we're hoping we're going to be further down the line with that sooner rather than later."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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