If Nadir Ciftci had still been playing at the same level he was while at Dundee United, there is little likelihood that Motherwell would have been able to secure his services in this transfer window.

That fact isn’t lost on the Fir Park club’s assistant manager Keith Lasley, who knows only too well from his time as a player just how good the Turkish striker can be at his best.

The challenge for Lasley, manager Stephen Robinson and the rest of the Motherwell coaching staff now is to nurture him back towards the sort of form that led Celtic to pay £1.5million to bring him to Parkhead in the summer of 2015.

Lasley is certain that they can do just that, and that the player is hungry to prove that he still has a lot to offer.

“With Nadir, everybody knows the level that he was at, and that obviously got him his move to Celtic,” said Lasley. “We’re really determined to get him back towards that sort of level, and if we can do that, then we know what sort of player we’ve got on our hands.

“I know first-hand how good he is from playing against him. I’ve been chasing him and trying to kick him without success on more than a few occasions.

“We know that we need to get him back on it mentally and physically, and we feel confident that if we can do that, we’ve certainly have got a player on our hands.

“He’s had a wee bit of an up and down time, but we believe this is an environment that can bring the best out in any player, not just Nadir.

“The environment we try to create is that you have to do it, or you won’t be selected. In training every day we demand standards in every single drill, so right from the start those ground rules have been set for everyone.

“Nadir will be part of that process, and he will have those demands put upon him like anyone else. If Nadir buys into that, which I’m sure he will, then we believe he will be a really big asset for us.”

The arrival of Curtis Main, who started last week's friendly win over Östersunds FK partnering Ciftci up front, has been somewhat overshadowed, but Lasley is also excited by what the former Portsmouth man can bring.

“Curtis has a good pedigree and he’s played at a good level down south with some really big clubs,” he said.

“I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen so far. He’ll want to provide goals, it’s as simple as that. He certainly looks as though he has the tools to do that, so as a coaching staff we’re really excited about him.”

Lasley was delighted with the work the Steelmen put in over the last week during their winter training camp in Tenerife, not only in bedding in new recruits, but in resetting the minds and bodies of a squad who looked visibly jaded towards the end of last year.

And he reckons that a video put out by the club of Gael Bigirimana, Charles Dunne and Ciftci playing the quiz game ‘Heads Up’ which went viral, is a perfect snapshot of the team spirit they have reinvigorated during their time away.

“The guys do a great job on the media side putting these things together, and hopefully these videos give a little insight into what we’re trying to create, because it does matter,” he said.

“It really brings something to a club of our size. We know we can’t go out and buy our way to success, we need to go out and try to be greater than the sum of our parts.

“The boys have been taking some stick for their answers in that video. I must admit, I laughed for quite a while at Bigi thinking Scooby Doo was Snoop Dogg.

“The other one was Grimmy [Liam Grimshaw] interviewing Cedric Kipre, and I don’t think there will be anybody quaking in their boots at Sky Sports News.”