Motherwell ace Stevie Hammell playing through the pain

Nov 15 2012 By Andrew Weston

Stevie Hammell

Motherwell defender Stevie Hammell has revealed he has been playing through the pain barrier since July.

The Fir Park favourite picked up an ankle knock in pre-season but has soldiered on since Motherwell’s European exertions.

However on Saturday the injury got the better of him and he came off early in the second half of the 1-1 draw against Dundee.

Despite the set-back Hammy hopes to be fit for Sunday’s showdown with Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium.

“The good thing is we will have had eight days before the next game,” he said. “I will stay off it for a few days and see
how it is. Hopefully by Sunday it will be fine.

“I have been playing on it pretty much the whole season and its not gone away. Every time we have a midweek game it can be a little bit too much. At half time (on Saturday) it was giving me some problems. I tried to play on because the last thing you want to do is come off but I had to because I was not helping anyone out playing with an injury.”

He continued: “As I said it’s something I have had since pre-season but I am able to train quite well and I’m not worried about it. There were a couple of tackles that went in on Saturday and I felt it. When the second half started it was still sore.”

The former Southend stopper hopes to be reaquainted with former Well boss Terry Butcher this Sunday as they look to get back on track after a frustrating seven days.

Last Wednesday the Steelmen went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Dundee United despite dominating for long spells.

It was a similar story on Saturday as basements boys Dundee earned a hard fought draw at Fir Park.

“If we win this weekend we will be right back up in the top four or five places so we are not getting too worried just now,” Hammell admitted.

“Ideally we want to be closer to the top after the run of fixtures we had. Everybody is pretty much looking to get that second spot and it is wide open.

“When we started last season we were winning games when not playing well. The one up at Inverness sticks out because we didn’t play well and came away with three points. Tom (Hateley) scored a free-kick in the last minute to win us the game.

“We beat Inverness here earlier in the season but after that they have gone on a really good run.”

He continued: “I expect them to be well organised but they have got a lot of good attacking options this season. Terry will have them well motivated as he always does and it has the makings of a good game."