Edinburgh derby, Well's Watt & Martin in spotlight again

Momentum is hard to gather when the season is as stop-start as this. A second international window is on the way next week, with another to follow in November.

Following another miserable midweek of European football for our clubs, focus returns to the Scottish Premiership and top-flight teams will be keen to enter the latest break on high.

With a tasty derby tussle at Tynecastle taking centre stage, we also shine a light on a Motherwell man making moves and manager who remains under pressure.

When Edinburgh's big two meet on Saturday, Hearts will be hoping to extend their lead at the top to five points. Even if just for a night.

Hibs will make the cross-capital trip with the hope of returning down Leith Walk with a third successive derby win for the first time in over 100 years.

Former Jambos manager Robbie Neilson is well within his rights to predict "a real barnstormer" between two unbeaten league rivals.

The maroon side's record this term reads much better, with five wins and one draw, to Hibs' one win and five draws - but recent form in this fixture favours the green and white.

Last season, Hibs had the upper hand, winning twice - including the Boxing Day meeting in Gorgie - and drawing the other derby.

There is a notable difference this term, though. Derek McInnes in the home dugout.

The Hearts head coach is yet to lose inside 90 minutes since taking over in the summer, which has resulted in a two-point lead over reigning champions Celtic, who don't play until Sunday.

This will be his first taste of the derby but he does have a positive record against Hibs from his time at St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

Unbeaten in the derby in his debut campaign, Gray recovered from a inauspicious start to clinch third spot.

This time, league form has been patchy. Conceding untimely goals has been the glaring concern but a clean sheet and point at Celtic Park last weekend will have boosted confidence for the jaunt across the city.

When Motherwell picked up their first league win of the season against Aberdeen last weekend, Elliot Watt was right at the heart of it.

Not on the scoresheet, or the provider of an assist, but the midfielder ran the Saturday night show.

In the first half, when the Dons burst out the blocks and appeared rejuvenated by their switch in system, Jens Berthel Askou's side were forced to sit back, suck up pressure and scurry away on the break.

Watt was consistently on hand to change the direction of play, pull the strings and set the Steelmen on their way. He did so with elegance and energy.

He sprayed the most passes in claret and amber - 110, with 102 of them deemed accurate by Opta, and made the most entries into the final third (22).

Such presence will need to be replicated if Motherwell are to come away from Celtic Park with a positive result on Sunday.

Following their meek Europa League performance in defeat to Braga, Brendan Rodgers' side are far from firing on all cylinders. A chance for a first 'Well win in the east end of Glasgow since December 2015?

It feels like a roulette spin between Rangers' Russell Martin and Aberdeen's Jimmy Thelin for the manager under most scrutiny each week.

Marked improvement against Motherwell, where they lost the game in stoppage-time, and a valiant effort in Europe against Shakhtar Donetsk has dimmed the spotlight on the Swede.

An unconvincing first league win of the season against Livingston did little to ease the pressure on Martin and a lacklustre Europa League loss to Sturm Graz has perhaps increased the glare even more.

The Ibrox side conceded two dreadful first-half goals in Austria, though the head coach maintained it was down to mentality, not the team's tactics.

If they are not in the right frame of mind against Falkirk on Sunday, things could get ugly.

For the second weekend running, Rangers are travelling to one of the Premiership's newly-promoted teams. And, in John McGlynn, Martin is coming up against a shrewd operator who gets a tune out of players, wherever he's been at whatever level.

Martin needs to figure out a way of doing the same with his expensively assembled squad.