STEPHEN McMANUS concedes there is ‘still a long way to go’ in negotiations to keep him at Fir Park beyond the summer.

The former Celtic captain has been an almost ever-present for the Lanarkshire club since he joined from Middlesbrough three years ago, making 124 appearances in claret and amber, with arguably the most difficult of those games coming in Sunday’s 7-0 hammering by Celtic.

Following that demolition at Parkhead, McManus, captain Keith Lasley, Scott McDonald and Stevie Hammell all find themselves out of contract at the end of the month and facing with many of them being offered new deals on reduced terms.

McManus openly admits he has loved his team in Motherwell, and earlier this year even said he would like to retire there. However, he recognises that prospect is still a bit away as talks continue between both parties.

“We’ll see who’s here next season. It’s difficult,” he said. “I don’t know about my own future. We are in negotiations at the minute but there’s still a long way to go.

“My contracts expires at the end of the month and we’ll see how it goes.

“I have really enjoyed my time at the club. The most important thing for me is playing games. I’ve been fortunate ever since I made my debut at Celtic, I’ve always played.

“I’m proud of the fact there’s not many who have played ore games than me since I came here.

“I want to continue that. I feel fit and healthy and feel I am bringing a lot to the party.

“You’re an important part of the club and I’d like to stay.

“But you are wanting things to be fair. I’ve got no doubt the club will be fair with me and I will be fair with them.

“At this stage the negotiations are ongoing.”

Sunday was far from the ideal way to bring what has been a season filled with promise to a close for Motherwell.

Despite them turning their fortunes around to finish in the top six, they were left humiliated by a rampant Celtic cruising their way to another trophy party.

“It certainly wasn’t great but the only positive to take from it was it was the last game of the season and it didn’t mean anything,” said McManus.

“We were disappointed. We tried a few personnel in different positions and it’s fair to say it didn’t quite work.

“I’ve been at Celtic and be on the other side of those kinds of scorelines. It can happen but it’s tough to talk about where it went wrong, because there are so many ways it went wrong.

“When you are losing by that margin you become ragged, you lose your shape and discipline and end up all over the place.

“We never passed the ball at all. We kept giving it back to them and it was wave after wave.

“We made Celtic look a right good side. The worst thing about this is you’ve not got another Saturday to bounce back.

“We’ve played a lot of games and I’m looking forward to the rest.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that former Motherwell striker John Sutton could be on his way out of St Johnstone.

The Englishman chose to leave Fir Park last summer and make the switch to McDiarmid Park, but after just 24 appearances and one goal he has been told he is free to transfer or go out on loan.

Saints manager Tommy Wright said: “John and I had high hopes last summer when he came here but the form of other strikers has really limited his involvement but he has remained a superb professional throughout the campaign.”