Motherwell may not quite be entering “squeaky-bum time”, as former manager Ian Baraclough put it ahead of last season’s relegation play-offs, but they may be getting close. The next week will certainly not be for the faint-hearted among those with an affiliation to the club.

A visit from second-bottom Kilmarnock to Fir Park on Saturday will be followed by a trip to Tannadice on Tuesday night to face bottom side Dundee United – two matches that could go a long way to shaping Motherwell’s season. With two wins, they could conceivably find themselves in the top six, but if results don’t go their way then they will be firmly in the battle to avoid the dreaded relegation play-offs once again.

The last few weeks have been testing ones for those of a claret and amber persuasion, but captain Keith Lasley says that now is the time for everyone at the club to come together to haul themselves away from trouble.

He said: “I think the fans as a whole might be surprised by the depth of feeling that the players have for the club. There is no one more desperate than the players to turn things around, and when we get a poor result it truly is like being kicked in the guts.

“If the supporters had a snapshot inside the dressing room then they might be shocked by how much the players care about getting results for this football club, and we hurt just as much as anyone when things are going against us.

“We all want the same thing, to start climbing the table, and if we stick together then I’m sure we can achieve that.

“There’s a bit of frustration in the dressing room after the last few games. We haven’t been at our very best, the players have got to concede that, but certainly we feel as if a couple of decisions and a couple of things have went against us, and we should have got more out of those games than we’ve got.

“The bottom line though is that we haven’t, we’ve just got to take that on the chin, not feel sorry for ourselves and get on with it. That’s what the fans expect of us and it’s what we expect of ourselves.

“We’re looking forward to what is a big week. Of course we’re disappointed with the last few games, but we can only control the future and that means our performances going forward.

“It’s a pivotal few days for the season. It could go one of two ways I suppose, but we’re going in with a positive mind-set.

“I think Kilmarnock showed enough last week against Rangers to suggest that Lee McCulloch has instilled a bit of belief, but we back ourselves at home against anybody and hopefully we can produce a performance good enough to win the match.

“Things can turn around quickly in terms of your fortunes and your confidence levels, so we’ve got to strive for that win against Kilmarnock that could set us on our way.”