MOTHERWELL manager Mark McGhee has challenged his side to treat tomorrow's match with Falkirk the same way they approach an Old Firm showdown.

The Steelmen earned plaudits for the way they played against champions Celtic in a fiercely contested 2-0 defeat at Parkhead last weekend.

And they battled brilliantly to secure a gritty 0-0 draw with Rangers at Fir Park on Wednesday night.

Yet McGhee, whose side is now fifth alongside Aberdeen in the SPL table, wants his charges to show the same determination against the Bairns.

He revealed: "I've asked the boys in the dressing room a question after the Rangers game. I said: Can they take that same ambition and drive out against Falkirk tomorrow?' "It is a completely different situation for us from the last couple of games which have been big matches in front of large crowds - with one being live on Setanta.

"But tomorrow afternoon it will, no doubt, be cold and windy and is likely to be played in front of little more than 3000 people.

"Can they show that same desire to win the football match against Falkirk as they did against Celtic and Rangers? If they can then we've got a great chance of picking up another three points."

Meanwhile, McGhee is hopeful his new-look defence can keep another clean sheet after they kept the strikeforce he rates as the most dangerous in Scotland at bay.

Keeper Graeme Smith frustrated Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd with a string of superb saves as the Gers fell four points behind the Hoops at the top of the SPL table on Wednesday night.

Bob Malcolm, filling in for injured Stephen Craigan at centre-half, also excelled as did fellow defenders Paul Quinn, Mark Reynolds and Stevie Hammell.

Gaffer McGhee enthused: "People were surprised when I criticised the team after the Celtic game as they felt we had done all right, but I felt they were capable of a far better performance.

"I think we got that on Wednesday night. Apart from scoring, and they were denied by a couple of great saves, it was a complete performance from front to back by my players.

"Defensively, we did extremely well against poss-ibly the best forward line we will play against in Scotland this season. It was an excellent clean sheet. We merited a point."

makeshift stopper Malcolm has claimed it has been more difficult for Motherwell to pick up points this season due to their success last time round.

However, the former Rangers man insists finishing in third place and getting back in Europe is still an attainable goal. And the defender-cum-midfielder has also set his sights on taking the Lanarkshire club on a good run in the Scottish Cup.

Bob said: "It is harder for us to repeat last year's success because teams now know the way we play and that we are a good footballing team.

"If they set their stall out differently it is up to us to break teams down and score goals.

"Having said that, we have the same number of points now as we did at the same time last season, we're well and truly back in the race for third place and the manager is happy with the way we are playing now.

"It is difficult for us to maintain the same level of consistency as Rangers or Celtic show with the size of squad we have but, on our day, we are just as good as them.

"We showed that the other night. We have to consider ourselves serious challengers to get the Uefa Cup place. But we know we can't afford to take teams like Falkirk lightly. Any team can beat any other team in this division."