Motherwell manager Graham Alexander is relieved their cinch Premiership top-six destiny is in their own hands and has urged his players not to let it slip from their grasp.
The Fir Park outfit head to Livingston on Saturday knowing a win in the final game prior to the top-flight split will secure a top-half finish.
Motherwell ended an 11-league game winless run with an emphatic 4-2 victory over St Mirren to climb to fifth in the Premiership.
And Alexander is pleased they are not having to rely on other results as they know if they secure three points at Livingston then they will be in the top six post-split.
Alexander said: “In life that’s the best you can ask for, things are in your control and you have control of your destiny.
“If you do things right and prepare in the right way then it gives you the best chance of being successful.
“It doesn’t guarantee anything but I’d rather be in this position than in a position where even if we win we might not make it and be looking at other results.
“I’d rather be in our position and we’ve got to embrace that but every game of football at this level is tough. Livingston have the same ambitions as us going into the game so it’s all set up for a good, competitive game.
“We went into the game last week knowing we had to get a result to give us a chance with just two games left and we managed to do that.
“But the job isn’t done and we have to have the same approach as last week.”
There is a financial incentive for finishing in the top half but Alexander insists that does not concern him now as all he’s focused on is securing a win against Livingston.
He said: “Everyone knows the importance throughout the league to all the clubs who have to fight for finance, how important it is to finish in the top six if possible.
“But if we start thinking about what it leads to, we’ll be distracted from the job we have to do and that’s go and win a game of football.
“For me that’s all we’re concentrating on. We don’t have to talk about what it potentially means in the long-term. We know our job for Saturday is to try and replicate the good things we did
last week and try to improve the things we could have done better.
“We’ll go into the game with the same mindset and mentality.”
Alexander revealed he wants to be kept informed about what is happening in the other games as they are three points ahead of the five teams below them, but not until the latter stages of their own fixture.
He said: “Maybe get an update at half-time just to give us an idea of how we may have to approach the latter stages of the game.
“It’s common sense to be aware but the different scenarios are too complicated at this stage, so I’d rather it be closer to the end of the game and see if what we are doing is enough.
“That’s for me and my staff to be aware of, I don’t think it’s anything the players have to be aware of.
“Games will swing to and fro all the way through and we have to be focused on what our job in hand is.”
