Mark McGhee happy to open Motherwell door to Premier League graduates

The 20-year-old came to Fir Park in the last transfer window having captained the Old Trafford club’s reserve team before slotting into the Well midfield.

The Burnley lad became such an important cog in the Steelmen line-up that he was poised to sign a permanent deal at the club earlier this month, only for Preston to hijack the move and lure him to Deepdale.

While Motherwell were left disappointed by the failed bid, McGhee explains it has not deterred him from delving back into the academies of England’s top clubs if he feels it will benefit his lot.

“I think that is one thing we hope to benefit from,” said the Motherwell manager. “We know the boy was very generous in his praise for everyone here and about the platform he was given and the way he was treated.

“That will encourage other clubs like Manchester United have done to feel they can trust us to take players here and not just use them and send them back. We will develop them.

“I feel really strongly about Connor Ripley. I think he is a terrific goalie but we want to send him back as a goalie that will compete for Middlesbrough’s first team.

“We want to work hard with him not just use him while he is here.”

Reflecting on the Grimshaw move, McGhee explained just how close it was to being a done deal.

“It was a bit of a blow to lose Grimshaw because it looked as if he was signing permanently the night before, so we were caught by surprise,” he said. “We need to address that and we are.

“If we can bring someone in we will, but we won’t be panicked into signing someone we don’t want or don’t need.

“We had agreed a contract and everything and then at the last minute we were gazumped, but that can happen. Until he’s signed he’s not signed, he’s not your player.

“His agent told me yesterday that he was on the way back up on the train when he got the call from Preston. They blew us out of the water so we can’t compete.

“If you knew the figures you can’t blame the boy.”

Preston’s last-minute swoop meant Motherwell were without the services of Grimshaw and suspended captain Keith Lasley for last weekend’s fateful trip to Tynecastle.

It would turn out to be a miserable afternoon as Hearts hammered the men from Lanarkshire 6-0, halting their six-game unbeaten run in the process.

Now with Ross County coming to Fir Park tomorrow, McGhee insists it is bad day at the office that is already out of his team’s system.

“Yeah absolutely,” he said. “We jumped straight back in and got on with looking at the Ross County stuff. We didn’t dwell on it.

“We didn’t learn anything about individuals, we just learned about the depth of the squad so that is something that is obviously a concern. We are getting on with the Ross County game.”

McGhee added: “I go back to the last time we played Ross County and if you saw us that day you’d have thought we were never going to win a game again. Instead of that we went five or six games unbeaten.

“You’ve got to [put it to bed], that’s the nature of the game. It’s unfortunate it was six but these things happen. Hamilton will go out this Saturday thinking they can win regardless of what happened at Parkhead the other night.

“That’s what you have to do and get back on your bike.”