- 20-year-old has been standout performer in debut Premiership campaign
- Scored first goal in professional football in 2-0 win over Aberdeen last weekend
- Has racked up the most minutes of any Scotland U21 player in top flight
This week, Stuart Kettlewell became the latest top-flight manager to raise legitimate concerns over the increasing risks to his players’ health amid a gruelling run of games.
Today’s trip to Easter Road to face a resurgent Hibernian side — who kickstarted their flatlining campaign with a 3-0 win in the reverse fixture a little over a month ago — will be Motherwell’s seventh match in just 21 days. Needless to say, Kettlewell’s got a point.
Ewan Wilson, however, wouldn’t have it any other way.
This time last year, the 20-year-old was warming the bench for Stirling Albion in League One. Now, he’s arguably the first name on the Motherwell teamsheet.
It’s been a quite remarkable rise to prominence for the talented left-back, who eventually saw his loan spell at the third-tier outfit cut short. By the end, he wasn’t even making the match-day squad.
A spell at Beith Juniors towards the tail end of last season would see him soon rediscover his love for the game, where his performances caught the eye of his boss up the road at Fir Park.
Ewan Wilson has been an ever-present on Motherwell’s left-hand side this season
The 20-year-old netted his first professional goal in last week’s win over Aberdeen
Stuart Kettlewell has been thrilled with the youngster’s progress since breaking into the team
His impact on the Motherwell team since his first appearance of the campaign against Edinburgh City in the Premier Sports Cup back in July has gone quietly under the radar, primarily thanks to his fellow academy graduate and team-mate Lennon Miller, who at the age of just 18, is already an established Premiership player.
While an unfortunate ankle injury picked up against Rangers last month has put Miller’s terrific season on hold for the time being, it has allowed the likes of Wilson to step into the spotlight.
His goal in a 2-0 victory over Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon — his first as a pro — certainly did his growing reputation no harm whatsoever.
The fact Wilson has already racked up almost 2,000 minutes of Premiership action this season, the most of any Scottish Under-21 player — and just ahead of Miller — proves he has the complete trust of his manager.
His defensive maturity — something rarely seen in someone with such relative inexperience — coupled with an engine which allows him to bomb up and down the left-hand side all day long has made him an essential asset for a team enjoying an excellent season to date.
If Wilson and Co can maintain this kind of form, European football will quickly become the target.
Dons need their new boys to have an instant impact
A couple of months ago, you would have been hard pushed to find anyone daft enough to back Hearts to get any sort of a result up at Pittodrie, such was the contrasting fortunes of the respective teams at that point.
Funny how things change.
Latvian Kristers Tobers could make Aberdeen debut against Hearts on Sunday afterswitch
Dons manager Jimmy Thelin is searching for a first Premiership win since November 9
It’s now 10 without a win for Jimmy Thelin’s previously all-conquering Aberdeen side, while Neil Critchley finally appears to be getting a tune out of his charges as they look to haul themselves away from the bottom of the table. Incredibly, the visitors might just be favourites going into Sunday’s contest.
Dons fans will hope the arrival of two new faces this week will be enough to inject some energy into the squad. God knows they need it.
Latvian centre-back Kristers Tobers has come in from Swiss outfit Grasshoppers, and with Gavin Molloy out injured for the foreseeable future — and Slobodan Rubezic suspended this weekend after his needless dismissal against Motherwell last time out — the 24-year-old could be thrown straight in to the deep end.
Even when everything was rosy in the Granite City earlier this season, there were still questions over their ability to keep things tight at the back, and so the six-figure signing of Tobers represents a clear intention to solve an ever-present problem.
The addition of Jeppe Okkels on loan from Preston will see the Dane link up with his former manager at Elfsborg as the winger looks to get his career back on track following a disappointing spell in the English Championship.
Having scored just eight in their last 10, Aberdeen are in desperate need of some creativity at the top end of the park as they aim to get themselves out of an increasingly alarming rut.
