Ryan Bowman determined to forget poor first season at Motherwell
Ryan Bowman feels like a different player after putting a difficult first season at Motherwell behind him.
The striker only netted twice last term after an August move from Gateshead as he struggled to dislodge Scott McDonald and Louis Moult from the team.
With McDonald away, Bowman has seized his chance following a prolific pre-season, hitting two Betfred Cup goals and making a huge impact off the bench in a 2-0 win over Ross County.
The 25-year-old retained his place for the subsequent encounter against Hearts and netted his first Fir Park goal in a 2-1 win.
"It only took me a year," the former Carlisle, Hereford, Torquay and York player said. "As a striker you are brought in to score goals and last year was a bit of a disappointment for me.
"I managed two last season which was very poor, considering what I have been doing the previous years. I know it's a different level but as a striker you always want to score goals.
"I know I can score goals, that's what I have done throughout my career. The team kind of picked itself last season and I wasn't getting a proper run of games. I was coming on in the left or right and just wasn't feeling confident.
"I was coming into games thinking, 'Am I going to score here? I don't know'. Whereas in previous seasons I was thinking, 'I can score here, I can score here'.
"Hopefully I can get that back now I've got a goal the other week, and go into games feeling really confident."
Motherwell are looking for a hat-trick of home wins in the Ladbrokes Premiership when they entertain Kilmarnock, who have Lee Erwin and Dom Thomas returning to their former place of employment.
Manager Stephen Robinson said: "I would imagine Lee and Dom will be looking to impress in every game to stay in the team, I wouldn't imagine it would be anything extra special coming back here.
"They are both really good lads and talented players, make no mistake. It was Dom who wanted to leave here for first-team football, I was quite happy for Dom to stay.
"So we are well aware of both threats. We know they are good technical players. But I will concentrate on us and how we play.