JAMES McFADDEN has already played through an invincible era during his time at Everton.

Now back at where it all began for him at Motherwell, the player/assistant manager will be sending his team out tomorrow to make sure he doesn’t experience it again.

Just a fresh-faced youngster, McFadden was in his first season at Goodison Park when Arsenal famously won their way to the Premier League title without being defeated once, a similar feat many are now tipping Celtic to achieve in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Brendan Rodgers’ team are top of the Scottish tree going into the festive period with no losses from their opening 12 games. It is a run McFadden is sure this current Celtic team are capable of continuing as the season goes on, but insists he has faith in his Motherwell lot to be the team to put a spanner in the Parkhead works.

“That was a wee bit different because they had really top opposition,” said McFadden about the Arsenal team of Henry, Pires and Viera. “The way they did it was incredible.

“When you play against Arsenal you knew if you weren’t at your best you’d get punished. They wanted to score four, five, six goals into you.

“It’s a wee bit different. Celtic are the best team in the league and we need to make sure we are at our best to try and upset them.

“Well, you don’t know. They’re undefeated so far and, again, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.

“But we believe that we can beat them and I’m sure the rest of the teams in the division feel the same and I wouldn’t just say that.

“We’re in the job of getting results and doing the best we can so we’ve got to believe that we’re going to be the first team to beat them.”

McFadden is right to point out that Motherwell have more than just stalling Celtic as motivation going into tomorrow’s early kick off at Fir Park.

Mark McGhee’s team are sixth in the standings but bizarrely are just two points off bottom.

“We don’t need extra motivation; we had a poor performance and result at Tynecastle last weekend and we want to put that right,” said McFadden after Motherwell’s 3-0 loss last Saturday.

“Up until now we’ve been inconsistent – we win one, we lose one – but we tend to bounce back well so we’ve got a point to prove on Saturday. Plus we want to be the first team to beat them.”

It has been a season of new experiences for the former Scotland talisman.

Back at the club once more in his first formal coaching role, he is enjoying the experience that comes with the extra responsibility of nurturing young talent into the Fir Park first team – even if it is at his own expense.

McFadden hasn’t featured in a claret and amber jersey since the end of October, but it is not an absence from front line duty that is causing him much angst.

“Not playing now isn’t as big a deal as it would have been before because when I first took the role we didn’t have the young boys battering the door down. We have now,” he said.

“I think that’s the important part for us. We’re not just throwing them in for the sake of it because we do have other experienced players. We are putting them in because they’ve done well up until this point and they deserve a chance.”