By Paul Marshall
August 8 2003

Motherwell kick off their league campaign hoping to keep up the good form shown in thier pre season matches. James McFadden is likely to start the match on the subs bench, the 20 year old who changed last Saturday's match against Fulham after coming on as a substitute is still a long way from match fitness. New signing Barry John Corr could keep the number 1 jersey after a decent display against Fulham. Manager Terry Butcher will be hoping he can guide The Steelmen to a open day victory for the first time in 4 years. Motherwell have failed on their last three attempts to win the opening fixture losing to Dunfermline, Dundee and Livingston.



Last season Motherwell v Dundee


Dundee who finished last season on a high after reaching the Scottish Cup final will be hoping to keep up the good run of form. Jim Duffy has brought in experienced players like Brent Sancho. Like Motherwell Dundee have also completed all their pre season matches unbeaten so hopefully the Dens men record will be lost tomorrow.

Dundee have appointed a new director, Giovanni di Stefano who is known for voicing his opinions was at it again today claiming Manchester United could lose to a village team ! The flamboyant lawyer was talking to the press about a British Cup when he came out with the statement.

He told Teletext " A national British Cup would bring credibility to football in the UK and would give the smaller teams the opportunity to get some much-needed funding. "

" Teams from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland could compete against the best teams in England and I'm sure it would attract massive media coverage. "

" The days of teams being sure of winning a game are over. Even Manchester United can lose to a village team, so the competition has a lot of potential. "

" I'm certain that this would get a lot of support from the public and it's something that the federations should talk about because the clubs in the lower leagues are really struggling for money. "



Pride of Lanarkshire Prediction -

Motherwell 2 - 2 Dundee



Click below to read about what happened the last time Dundee visited Fir Park.