Jens Berthel Askou pleased with Motherwell's progress so far

Jens Berthel Askou is pleased with the application and aptitude of his Motherwell players as they plough through their Premier Sports Cup group campaign.

The Steelmen drew 2-2 at Clyde in their group opener last weekend before winning the penalty shoot-out, followed by a 2-1 comeback home win over Peterhead – with Austrian striker Lukas Fadinger scoring a stoppage-time winner.

Ahead of the third Group G game at Stenhousemuir on Saturday, Well’s new Danish boss was positive.

“First of all, we’ve seen a squad and a group of players who are very eager to show that they want to learn,” said Askou, who will assess whether Lennon Miller, the 18-year-old midfielder linked with a big-money move away from the Fir Park club, will be fit to play at the weekend after missing the first two games with a minor injury.

“And they’re very eager to drive the tempo in the game and to take some initiative, and they’ve been quite brave in a lot of the phases.

“They’ve adapted really well and they’re really trying and really eager to show that they want to play the style of football we want.

“I think the development from the game in Clyde to the one on Tuesday night was quite obvious in some phases.

“And then it’s also still clear that we need to improve in the effectiveness in the final third, and to how to deal with especially the direct play that we face at the minute with teams going very direct against us.

“First of all, how we stay composed in these situations, and when we can, take the ball down instead of doing what most of the players have been used to throughout the whole career, to just clear the ball up the park as far away as possible, no matter how much time and space they actually have to bring the ball down and play and get the game in our terms.

“So that’s something we are still working on, getting these habits in.

“And then, again, trying to lift the tempo every day we train, and the quality, and the decision-making and also the relations in the final third is also about that.

“There’s a lot of new players trying to find each other and understand each other. And that sometimes takes a little bit of time.”