Stay “hungry, humble but not greedy” is the message from Jens Berthel Askou to his players as Motherwell seek to continue their eye-catching form and performances.
Motherwell are have taken 13 points from the last 15 on offer and their win over 10-man Hibs on Tuesday night moved them up fourth in league, level on points with the Easter Road side and Rangers.
However, with that comes a warning from the manager, who says culture on and off the pitch is crucial in avoiding complacency.
“We need to stay hungry, humble, not greedy. To stay on the right side of that thin line where you get overconfident because things are going well,” said Askou.
He added: “It shows in the little things every day. Let’s say they don’t pick up their coffee cup when they leave the dressing room or they stop doing the extra set or the last repetition in the gym.
“That’s where it starts, when you feel you’re on top and nothing can hurt you, for some. Because I think it’s natural for people to sometimes, when you’ve worked hard for a long time to achieve something, or you think you’ve achieved something, then you start to become a little bit complacent or lazy or just a little bit too comfortable.
“So it’s about striking hard on these little things. And that’s what we are keeping an eye on. It’s culture, basically.
“Every day, no matter if you’ve lost 10 games or if you’ve won 10, it never stops. And I think we have a good group of players and staff who are good at reminding each other and also showing each other how we want to do some things and how we want to be successful and how we want to build and guard the culture.”
On Saturday Motherwell welcome table-topping Hearts, who have stumbled in recent weeks and suffered a first defeat of the season last Sunday at Aberdeen.
“You see even the best teams in the world, they struggle to every game. So I’m not surprised that Hearts eventually lost a football game. It will happen to everyone,” Askou said.
“And I don’t think it will ruin their confidence or their feel of flow or the way they approach the game.”
