It’s not unheard of for chants of ‘We’re going to win the league’ to reverberate around Fir Park.
However, Motherwell supporters aren’t usually the ones belting it out.
That’s been left to followers of Celtic and Rangers over the years, who have celebrated many a win in Lanarkshire on the way to lifting the Premiership trophy in May.
Motherwell might just be capable of bucking that particular trend this time around. The fans certainly think so. Standing ovations like the one which greeted the full-time whistle here are par for the course these days.
And who can blame them for daring to dream?
Ten points is an awful lot of ground to make up on leaders Hearts, although that deficit could be reduced to seven should Jens Berthel Askou’s men defeat Dundee in next week’s game in hand.
Premiership top scorer Maswanhise celebrates his goal from the penalty spot
The striker converts the spot-kick and helps put Motherwell in the title reckoning
Jens Berthel Askou and his side have been a revelation in the top flight this season
But as they’ve shown time and time again, they are capable of beating anyone. Indeed, it’s hard to see where their next defeat will come from.
Considering they have lost just once in their last 20, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they can go unbeaten between now and the end of the season. What they’re doing isn’t a fluke.
Yesterday’s win over Dundee Utd put them to within a point of Celtic in third spot — second-placed Rangers are within their sights too. Even if reeling in Hearts proves to be a step too far, splitting the Old Firm has to be the minimum aim now.
Tawanda Maswanhise was the hero at the weekend, netting either side of the break to take his tally to 21 in all competitions. Extraordinary numbers.
But this win was a collective effort. From back to front, they didn’t give Utd a sniff. In fact, they won this at a canter.
Manager Askou said: ‘We were excellent and worked hard to keep them away from chances. The transitions and letting them get chances — some of the things I wasn’t happy about in Paisley (against St Mirren last week) — we didn’t do today.
‘United went man-for-man so it was a game of space by moving them where we wanted to move them then exploiting the space.’
On the fans’ belief that the Steelmen can be title winners, the Dane added: ‘We owe them to try to create that excitement and both the results and performances have led to more excitement during the season as it’s grown.
‘We are pinching ourselves to wake up to that every Saturday. It’s amazing and we hope we can keep earning that privilege.’
The hosts had United pegged back right from the off, and came close to an early opener on five minutes.
Callum Slattery was given far too much room on the edge of the box to feed the ball to Maswanhise with his back to goal. His delightful flick found Ibrahim Said, but the winger’s strike was turned round the post by Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
After spending the first 15 minutes chasing shadows, United finally offered a threat. Julius Eskesen did really well to make something out of nothing on the right, picking out Max Watters at the front post, but his first-time volley was comfortably held by Callum Ward.
When they’re knocking the ball around for fun, Motherwell are a joy to watch. But it would be doing them a disservice to suggest they aren’t capable of mixing things up either.
Talisman Maswanhise will be a key figure if Motherwell are to break into the top three
On the odd occasion when the short ball wasn’t on, they looked to go route one towards Maswanhise, whose pace in behind caused problems for the United backline all afternoon.
His finishing isn’t too bad either, of course. And it was he who stepped up to put his side ahead from the spot on 37 minutes.
The penalty was awarded in somewhat bizarre circumstance, with the striker hitting the deck after being caught off the ball by the elbow of Vicko Sevelj.
Referee Nick Walsh didn’t spot it initially, but got a word in his ear from VAR Ryan Lee to have a look on the monitor. Spot-kick given, Sevelj booked.
‘Maswanhise went down like he’d been punched with full force in the ribs,’ said a furious Jim Goodwin post-match. ‘It gives VAR something to look at but I’d love a referee to see it again and say that’s not a penalty and play on.
‘He obviously didn’t deem it violent conduct because he gave him a yellow. It’s not a penalty and I wouldn’t want penalties like that given.
‘We seem to be saying the same thing about refereeing in this country. It’s going from bad to worse.’
Another VAR head-scratcher for us to ponder. Life would be so much simpler without it.
Not that Maswanhise spent much time reflecting on the decision. The 23-year-old could have been forgiven for having his head turned in January amid widespread speculation that both halves of the Old Firm were snooping around. It says a lot about his character that he hasn’t been affected one bit. Another string to his bow.
His second of the afternoon had a hint of fortune about it. The Zimbabwean was initially too strong for Sevelj, collecting a hopeful ball long ball before turning and getting a shot away inside the area which took a handy nick off the defender on its way into the net.
Goodwin made four changes on the hour in an attempt to turn the tide, but it didn’t make the slightest bit of difference.
With the gap now 12 points to sixth-place Falkirk, United can forget all about finishing in the top half. Their focus must now turn to Friday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against the Bairns at Tannadice.
Win that, and at least there will be a visit to Hampden for the supporters to look forward to.
In all honesty, Tuesday’s visit of St Mirren is one Goodwin and his players could do without.
For this excellent Motherwell side, the fixtures can’t come soon enough.
