Shane Blaney hopes to get ‘better and better’ for Motherwell after injury woes

Motherwell defender Shane Blaney feels he and the team can go from strength to strength after an individual and collective breakthrough.

Blaney suffered an injury-hit start to his career in Scotland after signing from Sligo Rovers on January 1 and had only started five cinch Premiership games before November.

But the centre-back has picked up the club’s player-of-the-month award after making four consecutive appearances.

The Irishman scored his first goal for the club against St Johnstone and helped the Steelmen to a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park on Saturday.

The 24-year-old said: “I’m loving it now, I really, really am. Every player wants to play every game and the last month I have played four or five games in a row, so that’s what I want. It’s all been good and long may it continue and hopefully now some good results.

“Any player in the world of football would say, once you get consecutive games under your belt you are only going to get better and better, and I feel like that’s the way I’ll go as well.

“When you maybe play one game and don’t play for a few weeks it can be difficult to get a run going, but playing every week you get confidence and game reaction.

“I definitely feel I have so much more to come. Your confidence grows after games, that’s normal. So over the next few months hopefully I can carry on, play every game, get better and better and help the team throughout.”

Motherwell have still not won in 10 games, but the draw against the champions has given them a good platform to take advantage of a run of fixtures against Dundee, Ross County and St Johnstone.

Ahead of Saturday’s visit of the Dee, Blaney said: “We always had belief, it wasn’t a lack of belief. It was maybe just things not going right on the day.

“The performance was there on Saturday and we knew that was within us.

“We set up well, we were very resolute and we are all buzzing now for Saturday, as we are for every other game.”