Lasley confident Steelmen can reignite vital spark

But the midfielder is relishing tonight's televised match against Hibs and hopes it can reignite their bid for European qualification.

"Saturday at 3pm is everyone's preferred choice, but Friday night beats Sunday lunchtime for atmosphere," said Lasley, as he promoted the club's main sponsors Cash Converters' backing of cancer charity Movember. "Our crowd was big the last time and under the floodlights it is great. There seems to be more atmosphere than the early kick offs. It is something different and something to look forward to."

The 33-year-old has seen most things in his time in Scottish football so is in no mood to panic about a couple of poor results. Outwith Celtic, the league has an attritional quality to it, and it wasn't so long ago that St Johnstone, who now sit second in the table, were rooted to the bottom.

"It has been a tricky little period for us but I don't think we have been playing that badly," Lasley said. "It is not as if we have been getting thumped or outplayed. Even against Hearts, I felt we had done enough to at least take a point or even win the game. But we didn't and it is up to us to try and turn it around.

"We are still in the mix and there has not been a shift in confidence within the camp. It is not as if all of a sudden we are a bad team. We are a match for anyone especially at Fir Park. Celtic lost narrowly to the best team in the world, so it shows the quality they have," he added. "They have the best group of players in the league, they have the biggest budget and the biggest squad.

"It is hard for teams like ourselves to have a sustained challenge over the season with the resources. All the teams are cutting back so it is difficult to keep tabs on Celtic but you want to keep on their coat tails for as long as you can. The last thing anyone wants is for the league to be done by Christmas. We will try to mount a challenge.

"Even without Rangers, I think that finishing in second place would eclipse last season's third place. It is no secret the constraints are getting tighter for everyone and none more so than us."

Slump or no slump, Motherwell suffered two similar fallow periods last season but bounced back sufficiently to hold on to third spot despite having one of the smallest squads in the league. Motherwell will be without injured centre half Shaun Hutchinson for the match with Hibs, but Lasley would take pride in proving the doubters wrong again.

"I think people have been waiting for our bubble to burst for a wee while now," he said. "We had a couple of blips last season where it seemed to be a concentrated period of two or three poor results but we managed to bounce back and that's what we are looking to do again. The last few years, we have probably managed to get a level of consistency that has surprised a lot of people."

Ironically, the last Friday night meeting between these teams at Fir Park ended early. The match last December being abandoned with Hibs one goal to the good due to a small fire in one of the floodlights – but it is a fixture which usually provides pyrotechnics. The teams have shared no fewer than 30 goals in their last six Lanarkshire meetings, not least of which was a thrilling 6-6 draw in May 2010. An injured Lasley watched that one from the stands.

"We were 6-2 down and even the most optimistic of fans and players thought the game was gone," said Lasley. "It was an incredible night."

Motherwell would settle for an altogether more mundane experience so long as it is they who end up with the three points.

n Motherwell moved one step closer to fan ownership last night with the appointment of four members from the Well Society to the club's board. Out of 21 names put forward, the unanimous decision was to ratify the candidacies of Tom Feeley, Sandy Kilpatrick, Graham Barnstaple and Brian McCafferty.

INTERVIEW Midfielder insists barren run is not affecting morale, writes Stewart Fisher

KEITH LASLEY hopes that playing under the Friday night lights at Fir Park can inspire Motherwell to get back to winning ways.

The Lanarkshire club, formerly pacesetters in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League this season, have gone five weeks without a victory – having let a three-goal lead slip to Aberdeen, lost back-to-back matches against the Old Firm, had their meeting with Dundee United abandoned due to a power outage before the international break, then lost narrowly to Hearts on their last outing.

But the midfielder is relishing tonight's televised match against Hibs and hopes it can reignite their bid for European qualification.

"Saturday at 3pm is everyone's preferred choice, but Friday night beats Sunday lunchtime for atmosphere," said Lasley, as he promoted the club's main sponsors Cash Converters' backing of cancer charity Movember. "Our crowd was big the last time and under the floodlights it is great. There seems to be more atmosphere than the early kick offs. It is something different and something to look forward to."

The 33-year-old has seen most things in his time in Scottish football so is in no mood to panic about a couple of poor results. Outwith Celtic, the league has an attritional quality to it, and it wasn't so long ago that St Johnstone, who now sit second in the table, were rooted to the bottom.

"It has been a tricky little period for us but I don't think we have been playing that badly," Lasley said. "It is not as if we have been getting thumped or outplayed. Even against Hearts, I felt we had done enough to at least take a point or even win the game. But we didn't and it is up to us to try and turn it around.

"We are still in the mix and there has not been a shift in confidence within the camp. It is not as if all of a sudden we are a bad team. We are a match for anyone especially at Fir Park. Celtic lost narrowly to the best team in the world, so it shows the quality they have," he added. "They have the best group of players in the league, they have the biggest budget and the biggest squad.

"It is hard for teams like ourselves to have a sustained challenge over the season with the resources. All the teams are cutting back so it is difficult to keep tabs on Celtic but you want to keep on their coat tails for as long as you can. The last thing anyone wants is for the league to be done by Christmas. We will try to mount a challenge.

"Even without Rangers, I think that finishing in second place would eclipse last season's third place. It is no secret the constraints are getting tighter for everyone and none more so than us."

Slump or no slump, Motherwell suffered two similar fallow periods last season but bounced back sufficiently to hold on to third spot despite having one of the smallest squads in the league. Motherwell will be without injured centre half Shaun Hutchinson for the match with Hibs, but Lasley would take pride in proving the doubters wrong again.

"I think people have been waiting for our bubble to burst for a wee while now," he said. "We had a couple of blips last season where it seemed to be a concentrated period of two or three poor results but we managed to bounce back and that's what we are looking to do again. The last few years, we have probably managed to get a level of consistency that has surprised a lot of people."

Ironically, the last Friday night meeting between these teams at Fir Park ended early. The match last December being abandoned with Hibs one goal to the good due to a small fire in one of the floodlights – but it is a fixture which usually provides pyrotechnics. The teams have shared no fewer than 30 goals in their last six Lanarkshire meetings, not least of which was a thrilling 6-6 draw in May 2010. An injured Lasley watched that one from the stands.

"We were 6-2 down and even the most optimistic of fans and players thought the game was gone," said Lasley. "It was an incredible night."

Motherwell would settle for an altogether more mundane experience so long as it is they who end up with the three points.

n Motherwell moved one step closer to fan ownership last night with the appointment of four members from the Well Society to the club's board. Out of 21 names put forward, the unanimous decision was to ratify the candidacies of Tom Feeley, Sandy Kilpatrick, Graham Barnstaple and Brian McCafferty.