Cammy Kerr admits being left out of the team on occasions this season has been a sharp learning curve that he hopes has made him stronger.
The full-back was Dundee’s Player of the Year in the previous campaign and was made club vice-captain at the start of this one.
However, manager Neil McCann has taken him out of the starting line-up at times and even omitted him from some squads.
Kerr had been absent for three games before earning a recall against St Johnstone last week, providing the free-kick assist for Sofien Moussa’s dramatic late winner.
Now he is hoping to retain his place at Motherwell today and then kick on once more next year.
The 22-year-old said: “After the season I had last year, it was always going to be difficult to better that.
“Second season is always tougher and it’s maybe how you learn by getting taken out the team.
“I feel like I’ve done that and come through stronger for the experience.
“Having done that, my focus is on staying in the team.
“I want to kick on again for the start of next season.”
Kerr’s deep free-kick last week flew straight to the head of Moussa – although the defender admitted his radar hasn’t always been as reliable.
He said: “It’s not that I haven’t practised my free-kicks. It’s just that they haven’t come off as much this season.
“Most of them have ended up in the Bobby Cox Stand rather than the box!
“So I was glad to put one on Sofien’s head last weekend.
“It gave us a great lift beating St Johnstone last weekend. They’re always difficult opponents.
“Getting the early goal helped us and it was a kind of a sucker punch with them equalising in 85 minutes.
“But the character of the lads was shown again by getting such a later winner.
“You could see what it meant to all the boys like Simon Murray who’d just been taken off, and he was out of the dug-out celebrating.
“It shows the spirit and we have to maintain that between now and the end of the season.”
Kerr though is under no illusions about just how difficult it will be at Fir Park.
He said: “Motherwell are effective at what they do.
“They’ve proved that especially in the cups.
“They’re physical for sure and use their players well for how they play.
“I felt we should have had three points the last time we went down there, but it’s up to us to get the victory this time round and try to push on for the rest of the season.”
