Tony Watt has vowed to work hard and change Motherwell fans perception of him.

The heartfelt plea comes after his season-long loan deal was met with criticism from large sections of the Fir Park supporters base. 

Watt had previously been at Motherwell, scoring 19 times from 70 appearances, before signing a pre-contract to join Dundee United in 2022.

That move to Tannadice didn't sit well though and Watt was booed by the Motherwell faithful the next time the teams met with the one-time Celtic hero going on to celebrate in front of his old employers. 

The 30-year-old understands that the rapport between himself and Motherwell is still an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed as he went on to explain why the transfer switch two-and -a-half years made sense at the time.

Speaking to Motherwell's media team, Watt stated: "My message to the Motherwell fans would be let me work hard and change the perception, change the criticism, and it will go well from there.

"It's well-known there was a lot of upset when I left but it was a difficult one for me to turn down and ultimately I couldn't turn it down and I left.

"I'm glad to be back, and again, Motherwell's given me another chance and it's time to prove to them that I can do it, and get a connection going again.

(Image: Mark Scates - SNS Group)

Read more: 

"Dundee United came in and kind of blue my socks off and it was signed reasonable quick, it's as simple as that. Still to this day I don't regret it. Do I regret the fact that the Motherwell fans hated me after that? Yes, I do. But I don't know if there was a different way to go about it. It was just too difficult for me to turn down. 

"My wife is a solicitor and she had a traineeship where she had to stay in Scotland for two years so if I moved abroad or down south, we would be apart, and Dundee United were offering me the chance to stay here. 

"It was for my family and it was also for the future as well. Hopefully we can get our blues out the way and then we can get going. Whatever team I supported back in the day and that happened, I would've booed them as well so it is what it is. I can understand but give it time and hopefully everyone can open me back up in their arms. 

"I've always got a point to prove because wherever I go, I always get questioned. That's just part of the life I live and I'm happy with that. Nothing was handed to me for free."

"There's a lot of similar stuff still at the club and a lot of people here, so I feel brilliant, I feel ready to go," he said upon his return.

"I've been training throughout pre-season, I've not missed a session, and obviously coming off the back of last season I played a lot of games, so I'm ready to go."

Watt from exiled from the Dundee United squad by Jim Goodwin in recent times as he found game time hard to come by. 

Now he's eager to hit the ground running back in North Lanarkshire. 

"The last five or six weeks have been really tough, but I'm just exited to get going and be back playing," he admitted.

"We've been pushing for it over the past couple of weeks ever since we heard the interest."