McCall fears financial fallout from cup exit

Stuart McCall admits the Albion Rovers defeat was a career low point. Picture: SNS

AS if overseeing arguably the worst result in Motherwell’s history wasn’t enough to deal with, Stuart McCall is already bracing himself for the collateral damage which last Saturday’s shock Scottish Cup loss to Albion Rovers could cause.

McCall says he wanted to “stay in a darkened room” this week as he tried to come to terms with what he regards as the lowest point of his football career.

But the Motherwell manager must instead emerge into the Friday night lights at Fir Park where his team face the ultimate test of their resilience with the visit of a Celtic side coming off the back of their sizzling 7-0 win at Hearts.

Facing this evening’s Premiership assignment, however, is of less concern to McCall than are the financial consequences of the Scottish Cup exit. Having seen his stated aims of extended runs in both domestic cup competitions this season extinguished, McCall knows it may affect the club’s January transfer window business.

The prospect of strengthening his squad has clearly diminished, while Motherwell may now be more susceptible to any bids for assets such as highly-rated central defender Shaun Hutchinson.

“There is a fear now attached to what might happen in January,” admitted McCall. “It’s not just about going out of the cup, there are financial implications and I know that.

“We have two boys on loan in Lionel Ainsworth and Henri Anier and I don’t know what will happen with them now.

“My hand might be forced, although I don’t know if that’s the case because this has not been the week to discuss that. But it would be a natural thought that going out of the cup will have an effect on the budget moving forward and I’ll speak to the board about it next week.

“This has been as hard a week as I’ve had. As proud and as happy as I was at Hampden in 2011 when we reached the club’s first Scottish Cup final for 20 years, the emotion of it doesn’t come anywhere near the low I felt last weekend.

“My wife put it into perspective for me when she reminded me of the tragedy that happened in Glasgow last Friday night. I didn’t die, none of my family died.

“In football you get the chance to go on. But I had been fortunate in my career that I hadn’t been on the end of a real upset. I suppose there is a first time for everything.