Lasley eager to pen new Motherwell deal

Keith Lasley is keen to extend his contract at Motherwell.

Lasley is eager to follow youngsters Mark Reynolds and David Clarkson by extending his contract at Fir Park.

Reynolds boosted the Steelmen ahead of Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game with Gretna by extending his contract to 2011, while Clarkson has signed until 2010.

And Lasley should soon tie up his deal to prolong his second stay beyond the summer.

"I'm talking with the club just now about extending it," he said. "Since I have been back I have really enjoyed being here. Hopefully in the next wee bit we can get that out the way."

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The 28-year-old suffered a cruciate-ligament injury last season after Maurice Malpas brought him back from Plymouth.

And Lasley was relieved he managed to fight his way back to fitness just in time for new boss Mark McGhee's summer arrival.

"When a new manager comes in you want to show what you can do straight away," he said. "The timing of my injury (meant) I was just going to be back for the start of the season, so it was always touch and go.

"But I managed to get a really good pre-season and I surprised myself a little bit how quickly I got back into it. The knee really has been no problem at all and I go into games not thinking about it."

Lasley has adapted well to McGhee's 4-3-3 approach and has revelled in Well's transformation.

"I think we are passing the ball more than we have done and that's been a big part of our season," he said. "When we play the three in there, if you have someone sitting behind you, it means you can get a little bit more freedom to get forward and support the strikers. We seem to get a lot more movement."

McGhee is hopeful of securing more contract extensions soon, with Jim Paterson and Ross McCormack also out of contract in the summer.

But, on the day he secured the services of Clarkson and Reynolds, McGhee loaned Simon Mensing to Hamilton and Willie Kinniburgh to Partick Thistle.

And while they can still force their way into his plans over the next month, McGhee admits players will leave in January.

"They have played no part whatsoever so it comes a point where I have got to be fair to them," he said. "Having played games and getting fitter and getting back to competitive football, they will either convince me that they should come back here and be part of what we are doing here or convince someone else to take them."

He added: "We don't want to end up with 30 players. Some will go and some will stay."