Graham Alexander has challenged new recruit Victor Nirennold to win a long term deal at Fir Park.
The Motherwell boss has bolstered his Euro chasing squad with the signing of the versatile 6ft 4ins Frenchman until the end of the season.
Nirennold played under Alexander when the pair were at Fleetwood Town and is determined to secure his future with the Steelmen after spells in Slovakia and Malaysia.
The 30-year-old – who can play across the back or even up front – could be in contention to face Hibs tonight but the ball is in his court to stay in Scotland.
Alexander said: “He gives us competition for places and he’s now going to try and earn a longer-term contract from us so he’s motivated.
"He’s 30 years old and this was a no-brainer for us because he impressed everyone at training.
“There are a couple of other additions we hope to make after assessing the squad over the last week or so and the issues we’ve had all season. We need more defensive options and, possibly, a forward.
"He’s a French player I had at Fleetwood back in the day. He’s been around a bit since then, he’s just come back from Malaysia and we’ve signed him on a short-term deal.
“Victor has good energy and he’s adaptable – he can play in a few positions. He’s a great character and he contacted us when he came back to the UK, I invited him up for training and we liked what we saw.
“In Malaysia he was used up front but I see him more as a defender, either as a right-back or a right-sided centre-half or even right midfield."
Alexander is expecting another tight battle with Hibs on Wednesday night – but he insisted the fight for European places has only just started.
He said: “It’s too early to think like that. This division is so small that everyone’s a rival – the points gap between middle to top and middle to bottom isn’t that great so we treat every opponent in the same way.
“We know the quality Hibs possess and I’m sure they appreciate what we have. I’m sure both teams will go for the win because our games against them have always been that way.
“They have a new manager now but I don’t see that changing. Anyway, we’re not going to judge ourselves against one other club.”
Well new boy Ross Tierney made his debut against Morton and would love another crack at the continent after relishing his Euro run with Irish outfit Bohemians.
He said: “I played in it and it was an unbelievable experience, playing against big teams.
“We beat Stjarnan from Iceland and then Dudelange from Luxembourg.
“Our last game was against the Greek side PAOK Salonika and we beat them 2-1 at the Aviva Stadium and it was great to play there for the home games.
“But it didn’t go to plan over there and we lost 2-0 over there and we went out but it was still a great experience.
“It was a tough away game over there but it was 38 degrees and for us Irish boys that heat didn’t help us.
“We weren’t a million miles away and they had such a strong team.
“The plan is to get back to that level but we have to just worry about one game at a time and that starts with Hibs."
