What Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has told his players about Celtic before Rangers game

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There is no stopping Celtic’s dominance in Scotland.

That was proven on Boxing Day when Celtic beat Motherwell 4-0 to extend their unbeaten run on the domestic scene this season.

Once again, Brendan Rodgers didn’t play his strongest XI, but Celtic still opened up a 12-point lead over second-placed Rangers in the table.

Stuart Kettlewell has previously managed to take points off the champions, but his Motherwell side dropped to the floor this time.

But they have a chance to show what they are about when they welcome a damaged Rangers side to Fir Park on Sunday.

Stuart Kettlewell tells Motherwell players to ’embrace’ Celtic challenge

In the space of a week, Kettlewell has to face Celtic and Rangers, with the Motherwell boss trying to see the positive side of it all.

The 40-year-old stated that he has told his players to ’embrace’ challenges against the likes of Celtic because there is no one better, as he told Motherwell TV.

They dropped short against the Bhoys, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they take something from the Rangers match given how vulnerable Philippe Clement’s side are right now.

“We have just been trying to get this mindset ‘what’s our aspirations’ and ‘what is our ambition as a group of players, staff and football club’,” responded Kettlewell on Motherwell having to play Celtic and Rangers back-to-back.

“For me, that is to test yourself against the best. I think if you have any fear or trepidation, then there is no point in turning up. There is no point in being there. No point in being in this environment. My kind of challenge to the players, staff and myself is to ‘you have to embrace that’.

“At the start of the season, when the fixtures come out, there are a couple of key dates people look for. Christmas. New Year. What’s your first game? How do you finish before you go into the split? These types of things. I actually don’t, personally. But I know a lot of people do. The one thing that was a fact was that, this was how the fixtures were going to land and this was how they were going to fold, so definitely don’t feel sorry for ourselves.”

Kettlewell tells Motherwell players to take positives from Celtic defeat

Arne Engels opened the scoring against Motherwell via the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time and, up until that point, the opposition were doing well to keep Celtic at bay.

Yes, that’s when the champions showcased their muscle and outdid Kettlewell’s side, but it’s happening to every team in the division this season.

Kettlewell has told his players what he wants from them ahead of Rangers’ visit, after they couldn’t manage to do it against Celtic.

“We try to take the good bits (from the Celtic defeat) and there was plenty of that, to the point,” added Kettlewell.

“We have to play with a wee bit more bravery in possession. We have to carry the fight that little bit more and try to stay in possession a lot more than we did against Celtic. A lot of the defence aspect was good.

“But there are aspects we need to take from Celtic and there are bits we have to try to improve on. Try to see if we can tweak that over the next couple of days (against Rangers). But it’s a very different game as well. The fact that it is at home.”