Jim Goodwin wants first-half repeat when St Mirren meet Motherwell again

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin has asked his players to replicate their first-half performance against Motherwell last week when the teams meet again tomorrow night.

The Buddies found themselves 4-1 up at Fir Park at half-time in the William Hill Scottish Cup replay before being pegged back to 4-4 by the hosts' second-half onslaught.

Saints went on to win the subsequent penalty shoot-out and Goodwin hopes they can channel that first-half energy on their return to the same venue.

He said: "What I'm asking the players for is that performance in the first half when we scored some really good goals. More of that would be nice.

"The second half last week wasn't good from us. When you watch the game back then some of the goals we conceded were really poor or lucky on Motherwell's part.

"But they were the better team in the second half and we didn't get started at all. We have to make sure that we don't allow that to happen again."

This will be the third time the teams have faced off against each other in the space of two-and-a-half weeks but Goodwin expects Motherwell to be a different proposition this time around.

He added: "You would think the two teams would know each other pretty well by now but I saw on Saturday that they changed their formation (against Hamilton).

"They started with a back three which was how they played in the second half against us last week.

"So there might be a difference in how they approach the game so we have to be prepared for that. They finished very well against us playing that system so we will need to be ready for whatever they throw at us."

St Mirren's match with Hearts last Friday was postponed due to the weather and Goodwin admitted it was not the worst outcome for his players.

He said: "There was probably a benefit to Friday's game being off in terms of recovery times. After playing extra time last Tuesday it wasn't too much of a blow for us to have the game off if I'm being honest."