MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson has no concerns over the mind-set of Trevor Carson after Celtic’s attempts to buy him were rebuffed by the club this week.

In fact, if Carson can keep up the fine form he has shown since arriving at the club in the summer, he says that the goalkeeper will soon attract an offer that Motherwell can’t refuse.

Robinson expects the Fir Park number one to soon be the first-choice keeper for his country too, but he reiterated that Motherwell will be the ones to decide when a fair value for their players has been met.

“It is human nature that if a club like Celtic come in your head will be turned,” Robinson said. “Trevor remains focused and remains a Motherwell player on a two-and-a-half-year contract. When the players are starting to call the shots or other clubs set the parameters as to when we sell we might as well all go home. That is not case. Yes, we are a club that sells players, but I set the parameters. It will be done when I’m ready to replace people and when we get the right fee. “He has come to people’s attention because he is a very good goalkeeper. I’ve no doubt somewhere along the line we will lose Trevor Carson but it will be on the club’s terms.”

It isn’t the first time that Robinson has had to deal with such a situation with one of his players, with the fine form of many of them in the past year consistently attracting interest from elsewhere.

“I’ve had the same conversation with Louis Moult, Ben Heneghan and Marvin Johnson when he was here previously,” he said.

“They are now probably on triple the wages they would have got they got their original move. If people come in with five hours of the window left it is really hard to replace that kind of quality.”

Robinson is gearing his men up for the first game in what he believes will be a crucial juncture in the Steelmen’s season at home to Partick Thistle this afternoon. “The next three weeks are huge for us,” he said. “They will dictate our season and will determine whether we are fighting at the bottom or up in the top six. Thistle have turned the corner and we have to be right on the money.”

Meanwhile, Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald is hopeful that ending their season-long wait for a league away win last weekend can push his side towards more success on the road. The Jags defeated St Johnstone 3-1 in Perth, their first Ladbrokes Premiership away victory of 2017/18, and could end another unwanted record by beating Motherwell at Fir Park for the first time in 22 years today. Archibald, who celebrated his fifth anniversary in the Thistle dugout this week, anticipates a tough challenge for his side as they look to move out of the relegation play-off place. “It will not just happen,” he said. “We need to work hard as this is a really tough away game.”

Three points in Lanarkshire would see Archibald’s side take a big step towards a place in the top six, but the manager has insisted his team’s objective remains staying out of relegation trouble. “We know if we don’t get a result on Saturday we will lose ground. We wanted to remain within touching distance and not be caught adrift.”