IT WAS a dressing room built by leaders among men. Men with influence, men with respect, men with courage.

This was the scenario that welcomed Mark McGhee when he walked through the main door on Fir Park Street for the first time on June 18, 2007.

He had just been named Motherwell manager to replace Maurice Malpas in what was his first appointment since coming back north of the border. It was natural he was keen to impress.

What he was faced with was a group of players that, for one reason or another, were bound together by those within.

Phil O’Donnell, the beloved club captain, was the main focal point, but there were others, including two futures skippers. Stephen Craigan, and, yep, you guessed it, Keith Lasley.

These three men would be key to everything McGhee wanted to achieve at Motherwell, and it was imperative that they were in his corner from the very start.

“When you arrive at a club one of the first things you do is you look around to find the strength in the dressing room,” said McGhee.

“You want to gather that around you, get it on board and get it on your side.

“Whenever I came to Motherwell I had good counsel in Scott Leitch who had played with Keith and knew the players fairly intimately.

“Keith was one of the ones Scott had singled out to be the kind of character we would need with us. He was convinced of it.

“You could see he was a natural leader back then. Any good team requires more than one captain. There may be only one in name but you need several out there.

“In any situation the more captains you’ve got out there the better. With Phil, Crags and Keith in my team it was fantastic.”

Of course, that trio would soon become two on one of the saddest days this great club has ever endured.

The death of Phil on December 29 that year is a moment that will be burned into the soul of everyone who was inside Fir Park during that horrifying moment when our captain fell, and of those who also visited the ground to pay tribute in the dark days that would follow.

It was a period that caused much grief, pain and suffering. The obvious victim of it all was David Clarkson, Phil’s nephew, who was on the park at the time of the tragedy.

But the sense of overwhelming loss was one which washed over not just the players and supporters, but through the club’s management, staff and into the community. It was here that McGhee saw a different side to Lasley.

“Keith took what happened to Phil as badly as anyone,” he explained.

“But I think at that time he showed tremendous maturity and stood up. He supported everyone around him, it wasn’t just the younger players but all of us with his demeanour and honesty.

“You always look towards the righteous in these moments and Keith always set the right example.”

He added: “Players require a different character off the pitch to on it. It’s not that he’s a hard man, he’s just brave. He is prepared to get hurt and put himself on the line for the team.

“He is prepared to give everything.

“Off the park he has a calmness about him and rarely loses control. There is a love of the game there that will always drive him on and make him a good coach.

“His character, his level of training performance and application is superb. I’ve spent a lot of time with Keith socially. I know the lad and his family and he’s a great guy and a great professional.”

Motherwell take on Bolton Wanderers at 3pm on Saturday at Fir Park in Keith’s testimonial. Gate prices are £10 for adults and £5 for kids/concessions.