Louis Laing may still have 'Well future

Newcastle-born Laing (23) has spent the last few months on loan at English League 2 outfit Notts County, a deal which has now ended.

But, with late defensive lapses costing Motherwell last weekend, there could be an opening for him to push for a place in the Motherwell starting line-up again.

McGhee said: “As long as Louis Laing is here he will be in contention to start.

“He needs to prove to us what he has learned in the period he has been away.

“He is still a player who would prefer to play down south.

“But as long as he is here he will be considered part of the squad.”

McGhee, who said Motherwell were on course to sign two new players imminently, said he was now over last weekend’s heartbreaking 2-1 Scottish Cup defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.

’Well will play against the same opposition in a Scottish Premiership encounter at Fir Park this Saturday.

The Steelmen gaffer added: “I’m experienced enough to get over it because it’s not the end of the world and I know there’s other games, but you just have to be honest in these situations and at that time that was how I felt.

“It was an opportunity missed in all sorts of ways because I was very ambitious about the cup this year – I had high expectations and I felt if we could get past that one and maybe get a little bit of luck in the draw then who knows what could have happened.

“The fact it’s Rangers on Saturday isn’t all that important. We just move on, it’s about the three points and we’ve just got to get up the table.

“You can say all you like about revenge but it won’t be revenge – if we win on Saturday it won’t be revenge for last Saturday because that’s done – it’ll be three points that will contribute to our safety and our push for a top six spot.

“The fact it’s the same opposition is coincidental but they’ll have one or two back so their team might be slightly different.”