Same dream, different styles as Motherwell & St Mirren bid for final

Scottish League Cup semi-final: Motherwell v St Mirren

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Saturday, 1 November Kick-off: 17:30 GMT

Coverage: Listen to match commentary on BBC Radio Scotland & Sounds and follow live text updates on BBC Sport website & app

As his crestfallen players trudged up the Hampden steps to collect runners-up medals for the second time in six months, Stephen Robinson vowed to build on a remarkable first full season in charge at Motherwell.

The manager's next aim was to establish the Fir Park side as a top-six club. They finished third in the curtailed 2019–20 Scottish Premiership campaign two years later.

Now achieving similar feats at St Mirren, where he has secured three consecutive top-half finishes, a major cup final would mark the next progressive step in his ambitious tenure.

To reach it this weekend, he must break hearts at his former club, who are bidding to reach a showpiece occasion for the first time since Robinson led them to both domestic finals in the 2017–18 season.

Yet Jens Berthel Askou's vibrant Motherwell side will have other ideas in an intriguing League Cup semi-final under the lights at Hampden on Saturday (17:30 GMT).

Some would suggest Robinson has hit his ceiling at St Mirren after three top-six finishes in three seasons.

Nope, the Northern Irishman is driven to ensure the Paisley club continue to push boundaries. Now silverware is a realistic aim.

Not since 2013 have the Buddies won a cup, when a dramatic 3-2 triumph against Hearts followed a stunning semi-final win over Celtic in this competition.

Under Jim Goodwin, there was semi-final heartache in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup in the behind-closed-doors 2020–21 campaign.

Goodwin departed for Aberdeen the following season, with Robinson arriving and guiding the team to a stable ninth-placed finish.

In the three years since, St Mirren have finished sixth, fifth and sixth again.

Robinson prides himself on having a well-structured side with an intense and physical attack. Motherwell fans know that too well.

But with a current midfield trio of Keanu Baccus, Killian Phillips and Mark O'Hara, his teams do not get enough credit for their work on the ball.

There is no opposition manager or player who looks forward to a trip to St Mirren.

Just ask Derek McInnes and his league leaders Hearts, who were fortunate to leave Paisley with a point on Wednesday after suffering for large spells in their 2-2 draw.

That point ended a three-game losing run amid a stuttering start to the season for Robinson's men, but only a fool would write them off in their bid for another top-half finish – and another trip back to Hampden in December.

Sixteen minutes into Askou's first match in charge of Motherwell, away to Clyde in the League Cup groups, fans of the Fir Park club were trying to work out why their goalkeeper was standing 30 yards from goal with their team in possession.

Seconds later, that curiosity turned to horror when the ball was lost in midfield and part-time striker James Hilton lobbed a shock opener over the scrambling Calum Ward.

Three months on, former Sparta Prague and Copenhagen coach Askou has gone from an unknown quantity to Scottish football's surprise package, his bold and expansive style now earning results.

With a brave approach, smart recruitment and candid interviews, the fanbase have taken the Dane to their hearts, though he has no idea what would come his way if he manages to win the club's first silverware in 34 years.

Three of the four stands at Fir Park are named after three men who played integral roles in the 1991 Scottish Cup triumph - former players Phil O'Donnell and Davie Cooper, plus cup-winning manager Tommy McLean.

That alone highlights the lasting legacy this manager and his team could leave.

With about 8,500 Motherwell supporters, a similar number to St Mirren, expected to roar on their team at Hampden, Askou said: "It means a lot, especially for a club of our size, to give this to our fans.

"It's fantastic support. It shows how many people around Motherwell are looking forward to the game and how big an occasion it is for them."

The only contest between these sides this season ended goalless in August.

Motherwell had 66% possession that day but lacked a cutting edge, injury issues meaning they played without a centre-forward.

St Mirren had the better of the chances, but the stalemate means they have won only two of their past 16 league meetings with the Lanarkshire club and are winless in six.

Motherwell may be four points better off in the Premiership and in better form but this feels like a 50-50 affair.

The Fir Park club have won four of their past six matches, including their quarter-final success at Aberdeen.

Across 10 league games, they have scored double the goals of St Mirren (16 to eight) but conceded one more than the Paisley side (13 to 12).

In left-back Emmanuel Longelo and midfielder Elliot Watt, both signed in the summer, Motherwell boast two players who are among the standouts in the Premiership so far this term.

St Mirren, meanwhile, have won once in five matches since dumping out Kilmarnock on penalties in the last eight.

But an impressive showing against league leaders Hearts in midweek showcased all the redeeming features in Robinson's side, who posed a serious threat from set-plays.

"Really contrasting styles between both sides," BBC Scotland pundit Neil McCann said on Sportscene.

"If Motherwell get a grip of the game, it'll be difficult for St Mirren. You could see St Mirren going old school and making Motherwell defend direct balls like they did against Hearts.

"I lean towards Motherwell because of the big pitch at Hampden. I make them favourites. But the way Robinson gets his teams to play, he will come up with a game plan to nullify space."