Preview: Motherwell vs Ross County - prediction, team news, lineups

Scottish Premiership Motherwell welcome Championship strugglers Ross County to Fir Park on Saturday afternoon for a fourth-round clash in the Scottish FA Cup.

The Steelmen enter the competition at this stage, while the Staggies progressed past Banks O'Dee FC to reach this round.

Match preview

Jens Berthel Askou was appointed as Motherwell manager in June 2025, and the Danish boss has enjoyed a superb start to life at Fir Park.

Now 29 matches into his tenure, Askou has overseen 14 wins, 11 draws and suffered only four defeats, including only one loss in their last 12 matches heading into Saturday's Scottish FA Cup fixture.

Motherwell's defeats have come against Celtic (3-2), Falkirk (2-1) and Rangers (1-0) in the league, while they were disappointingly defeated 4-1 by St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, although the Saints went on to lift the trophy.

As a result of just three Scottish Premiership defeats, alongside nine wins and 10 draws, the Steelmen are placed fourth in the standings with 37 points, trailing third-placed Rangers by seven points and holding a significant 12-point lead over the bottom half of the table.

Askou, hoping his side can maintain that momentum heading into the latter stages of the campaign, will be looking for his team to continue their fantastic run of form by picking up a victory on Saturday.

The Steelmen will certainly be the favourites to achieve the win, especially having suffered just one defeat at their home ground across all competitions this season, while their opponents, Ross County, are also enduring a miserable campaign.

The Staggies were relegated from the Scottish Premiership after losing 5-3 on aggregate to Livingston in the promotion/relegation playoff final last term, and they have experienced a disastrous return to the second division.

Ross County failed to win any of their opening eight Scottish Championship matches, and that has set the tempo for their campaign to date, currently placed at the foot of the table with just 16 points from 20 games played.

The Staggies have managed only three wins, seven draws and suffered 10 defeats in that time, a run of results that has seen both Don Cowie and Tony Docherty depart from the managerial position during the term.

Stuart Kettlewell was announced as the club's third permanent manager of the campaign in late December, returning to the club five years after leaving in December 2020.

Kettlewell ended a seven-game winless run in the Scottish Championship with a 2-0 victory against Partick Thistle in his first match at the helm, but the manager fell to a 2-0 loss to St Johnstone in the Scottish Challenge Cup in his most recent fixture.

Now looking for an immediate response, Kettlewell will be hoping his side can pull off a surprise victory against Motherwell, who Ross County are actually undefeated against in their last four meetings - two draws and two wins.

Motherwell form (all competitions):

D W W L W D

Ross County Scottish Cup form:

Ross County form (all competitions):

L W D L L W

Team News

Motherwell are dealing with the absences of Aston Oxborough, Elliot Watt, Eseosa Sule, Filip Stuparevic, Regan Charles-Cook, Sam Nicholson, Stephen O'Donnell and Zach Robinson due to injury issues.

Tawanda Maswanhise has scored three goals in his last three games for club and country, and the striker could line up alongside Ibrahim Said, Elijah Just and Tom Sparrow in attack.

Meanwhile, Ronan Hale is Ross County's top scorer with seven goals in 18 Scottish Championship fixtures, and the striker is expected to lead the line against the Steelmen.

Hale is likely to play just ahead of Jamie Lindsay and Ryan Duncan, while Ross Docherty sits in a deeper midfield role.

Motherwell possible starting lineup:

Ward; Koutroumbis, McGinn, Gordon, Longelo; Fadinger, Slattery; Sparrow, Just, Said; Maswanhise

Ross County possible starting lineup:

Carson; Randall, Smith, Gallagher, O'Sullivan; Henderson, Lindsay, Docherty, Duncan, White; Hale

We say: Motherwell 3-0 Ross County

Motherwell and Ross County are experiencing two extremely contrasting campaigns, and with the Steelmen's fantastic home record this term, we are expecting a comfortable home victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.