FADDY is the daddy to so many Motherwell fans who have idolised him over the years.

And club captain Keith Lasley has praised James McFadden’s impact during an historic third spell at the club – despite him only playing 36 minutes.

Since penning his latest deal at Fir Park last month, the former Everton man has found it difficult to break into Mark McGhee’s starting line-up, instead having to content himself with a second-half cameo against Cove Rangers in the Scottish Cup.

McFadden’s influence runs far deeper at the Lanarkshire club than appearances on the pitch, though.

A legacy that has been built up at Motherwell since he was a teenager, the now 32-year-old is back at where it all began for him, passing on his knowledge and experience to the kids wishing to follow in his footsteps.

“It’s been good having Faddy back. You get the odd cup of tea now and again,” joked Lasley.

“There’s a lot of guys who have left and come back to the club - and I think Faddy must be on about his sixth spell by now, I’ve lost count - but he’s a great guy to have about the place.

“He’s involved with the younger teams as well, giving up his free time to spend time working with the young players.

“What better role model to have back at the club than a guy who started here and went on to have a fantastic career. For these young boys to see him in here still working hard at his game, still fit and available to play and he hopefully still has a part to play.

“He’s a great guy to have about the place, still very capable on the park as well which you see every day at training and he’s a winner as well.

“He’s a great influence in the dressing room and it has helped us on the good run that we’ve been on just having him around the place.”

While McFadden is approaching the end of his spell at the club before he turns his attention to making it in the MLS next month, Lasley’s situation is far different.

The 36-year-old’s current deal is up in the summer but he has no intention of looking anywhere else other than the club he has spent 15 years playing for.

Despite his age, Lasley admits he feels he has many years left in him, and is hoping that Motherwell will want their captain to hang about for some time to come yet.

Speaking ahead of today’s visit of Ross County in the Ladbrokes Premiership, the midfielder said: “I”m up at the end of the season like a lot of guys,” said Lasley, who was suspended last weekend for Motherwell’s 6-0 hammering at Hearts.

“Of course I’m going to keep going, after not playing on Saturday I’m the best midfielder in Scotland so I might have a few teams after me!

“Seriously, I just want to keep going. Coaching and management is something that interests me and I’m already working towards that in terms of doing my pro licence and working with the younger teams here. But it’s something I hope is still a bit further down the line for me.

“As long as I feel as fit as I do I will want to keep playing because I still enjoy that more than anything.”

Turning his attention to today’s encounter, Lasley added: “It’s about the next game for us. Hearts wasn’t a nice game to be involved in but we spoke about moving on after it.

“As soon as we came back into training, it was away. We put it in a wee box and looked at Ross County.

“There have been a lot of good signs and a lot of positivity around the club in the last five or six weeks and we have to continue that.

“We have been good here at home and we need to maintain that.”