Motherwell are too good to be in trouble, but we need to prove that, says defender

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Max Johnston insists Motherwell are too good to be third-bottom in the Premiership table – but says it’s up to them to prove that.The 19-year-old right-back did well during a loan spell with Cove in the Championship, which also earned him Scotland under-21 recognition, and has been brought back into the squad by boss Steven Hammell for the second half of the season.Johnston is delighted to be thrust into the thick of it, replacing Callum Slattery in 82 minutes of the 3-2 defeat against Hibs last Sunday.And the teenager, who was also on loan at Queen of the South last season, says everyone’s working hard to get out of relegation trouble, as they host basement battlers Ross County this afternoon.Johnston said: “You’ve got to have belief in yourself, first and foremost, and I think we all know we shouldn’t be in this position.“We’re good enough to be pushing higher up in the table, so I think we’ve all got belief in ourselves.“But this is the biggest game of the season so far.“Every week it’s going to be a hard game, so we’ve just got to make sure we go out and do well.“I think we’ve been playing well.

As a team we’re disappointed in how we’re conceding goals, but it’s not individuals, it’s a team effort.“We defend as a team, so I think we’ve got to work on that.”Johnston was brought back to Fir Park at the start of this month, and was delighted to get that call.He said: “It was at the start of January I found out.

The gaffer had spoken to me, said I’d had a good six months at Cove, and he wanted me to come back.“Getting on the pitch on Sunday was a big boost as well.“That’s what you want, when you go out on loan – to get called back and hopefully have a better chance of playing.“These loans have helped me, 100 per cent.