Motherwell boss turns his phone off amid Trevor Carson interest

Celtic have made an approach to sign the goalkeeper

Published 30th Jan 2018

Stephen Robinson has the perfect method to ensure he loses no more of his Motherwell squad before Wednesday's transfer deadline - he has turned his phone off.

The Fir Park boss saw top scorer Louis Moult join Preston at the start of January and was sent into another panic on Monday when Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers called to enquire about goalkeeper Trevor Carson.

Robinson has so far managed to stave off the “nightmare scenario” which would see him lose his number one with just hours left of the window by telling the Hoops they will need to at least treble their opening £250,000 offer.

But the Northern Irishman now says he is going to take no chances as he switches his focus to Wednesday night's clash with Hibernian at Easter Road.

“It's a strange day to put games on isn't it?” said the Well boss. “But my phone has been off since about half 10 this morning - no-one will be getting hold of me, so nobody will be going.

“The only incoming calls will be for me to sign players.

“We're hoping to have one, maybe two more in before the end of the window. With Steven Hammell retiring and Ellis Plummer out for the rest of the season, left-back is a position we're looking at.

“We'd also like another striker with Ryan Bowman's injury so we're quietly confident we'll get something done in the next 24 hours.

“It's a tough one having the transfer deadline on a matchday. My focus has to be on Hibs.”

Motherwell have hit the ground running since returning from the winter break, following up back-to-back wins over Hamilton with Saturday's 1-1 draw at Hearts.

They also started the campaign in impressive form yet that all looked set to come to a shuddering halt as they ended 2017 with a run of nine games without a win.

But now Robinson wants his team to get motoring again, starting with their road trip to Leith.

He said: “Winning games gives the dressing room a better feeling. We've won two out of three, with the other a brilliant draw away at Hearts.

“So there is a really good atmosphere among the boys now.

“We have a really tough game at Hibs but we will go into it confident with three home games to come afterwards.

“We're sitting sixth at the moment. Now we've got a real chance to build on what we've done recently."