Motherwell striker John Sutton has warned his team-mates not to repeat the mistake he and his former Dundee colleagues made when they thought they would be safe from the drop.

Sutton's return to Dens Park on Saturday rekindled painful memories of his last-gasp relegation with Dundee in 2005 when they took just two points from their last five games to finish bottom of the heap in a four-way fight with Dunfermline, Livingston and Dundee United.

Motherwell sit six points ahead of the bottom two teams in the Scottish Premiership and Sutton wants to increase that gap to make sure Ian Baraclough's side do not become embroiled in a similar scenario.

"It's a horrible feeling," Sutton said. "It was the last day of the season at Livingston. It's hard to describe. You know what's going on but it doesn't really sink in at the time.

"I've been fortunate enough not to have been involved in too many scrapes since then but you don't even want to think about what that's going to feel like and hopefully that won't be the case.

"That was the only time I've been relegated in my career. There are a few similarities. We are six points clear and I remember going into the split with Dundee and we were at least seven points ahead and ended up going down.

"It was really upsetting because, like the squad here, we had a good squad of players. I think we felt we were always good enough to get out of it, but that wasn't to be the case.

"Certainly we need to pick up points as soon as possible and get out of the mess we are in.

"You can't worry too much about that, we have to worry about getting our performances right, because they haven't been good enough. We have got to pick it up."

Baraclough insisted yesterday that he still hopes to make new signings, although he admits he will "possibly" have to move players out beforehand. Baraclough, who is also keen to extend loan striker Henrik Ojamaa's stay, said: "I'd like to bring one or two in that can make an impact and help the group.

"We've had seven or eight injuries since I've been here and a lot of them are senior players. That takes its toll eventually. To freshen things up and bring someone would give everyone a lift."

His counterpart yesterday, meanwhile, called on his side to stick together as they attempt to to end a run of eight Scottish Premiership games without a win. Paul Hartley believes his side can recapture their early-season form, which saw them make an impressive return to the top-flight by remaining a tight unit.

He said: "It's just one of those runs that every club goes through. It's happening to us right now but there are no excuses. We've got to get through this together and I'm sure we can.

"It's about working hard for each other to make sure we get out of this run.

"I've no complaints about the players' effort or application and know they're a great bunch. It's a combination of things when it isn't going well.

"When you're new to the league like we were back in the summer, I don't think other teams know you that all that well.

"I think we were a bit unknown in the first 10 games of the season and now teams know us a bit better.

"That's the challenge, though, to get back to winning and that's what we've been working on all week."

Bulgarian defender Kostadin Gadzhalov is set for his Premiership debut against Motherwell.

The 25-year-old is in line to replace James McPake, who has a rib problem. Simon Ferry and Kevin McBride also look like missing out with injury.