Motherwell defender Stephen O’Donnell racked up his 100th appearance in claret and amber on Saturday and joked that unless clubs come in with big money in the summer, he’ll be staying at Fir Park next season.
The Wishaw native made his first start for the Steelmen since February when he helped them to a 2-0 win away to St Johnstone, which confirmed the club’s top flight status for the 38th consecutive season and put them seventh in the table.
It has been some turnaround since Stuart Kettlewell took the reins three months ago, with the club climbing away from 11th in the table and picking up 23 points from a possible 33 in 11 games.
Appearances have been limited for O’Donnell this term with teen talent Max Johnston and James Furlong keeping him out of the side.
But the Scotland international still has just over a year left on his Motherwell contract and is keen to stick around to see how they fare next term under Kettlewell’s stewardship, as well as hoping in-demand striker Kevin van Veen is able to resist a big money move away.
O’Donnell, who was brought down for the penalty that van Veen scored to break the deadlock in Perth, said: “He [Kettlewell] has instilled a resilience and a togetherness and you see a consistency of results.
“Hopefully we will kick on with this momentum across the last three games. It’s been a great run.
“I was pleased to come in and manage to help that. It was nice to play my 100th game.
“It’s been a stop-start last couple of seasons but it’s always a joy to come on and play.
“I’ve another year so, unless someone is going to come in with a big bid for me like Kevin, then I am here!”
Asked about being kept out of the side this term, he added: “It’s a lot easier when the team is doing well. Max and James have been very impressive playing wing-back so I have just tried to be patient.
“The standard is good and you can see that in results. We’re settled in a 3-5-2 and I will work as hard as I can to stay in contention to play somewhere.
“These young players come in with confidence and they don’t need too much development from me!
“The likes of Max just need game time - and he’s been getting that. With the structure in place, he’ll get all the feedback he needs from the coaching staff.
“If he ever asks, I would happily help him but he’s already a young player with a very bright future.”
The Steelmen are back in action on Saturday when they welcome Kettlewell's old side, Ross County, to Fir Park.
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