WILLIE PETTIGREW has tipped two of Motherwell's talented teenagers to save the Fir Park club a fortune.

While John Sutton has replaced NEC Nijmegen-bound Michael, the Steelmen have been left light up top after the departures of Jamie Murphy and Henrik Ojamaa.

But now Well strike legend Pettigrew, who coached Craig Moore and Lee Erwin in his remit as Youth forwards coach at the club, believes the duo are set to step up to the plate this term and help provide a fresh source of firepower.

Pettigrew said: "The club are lucky to have some very talented kids coming through and two that spring to mind are Lee Erwin and Craig Moore. The great thing is both offer something different for the manager Stuart McCall.

"Erwin is fast and physical, whereas Moore is maybe the better finisher of the two.

"But the great thing about the manager is he has shown that if he believes kids are good enough he will blood them. I think these two will have a real chance to make an impact this season.

"They are products of the Academy and all the great work being done by Gordon Young.

"They would certainly save the club a few quid this season if the manager did decide to go with them."

Pettigrew also believes Fir Park nearly man Bob McHugh could provide the perfect foil for second-time- around Steelman John Sutton.

The former club post-war record scorer said: "Bob has been unlucky with injuries but he has worked tremendously hard and now the window of opportunity has opened.

"He will know that this season could be the one for him to cement his place as a starter.

"I could see him as an ideal foil for big Sutty."

Elsewhere, Pettigrew was sanguine over the departure of Higdon to Dutch cracks NEC Nijmegen.

The 29-year-old bagged 26 goals en route to finishing the SPL's top gun last term, but Pettigrew says no-one is irreplaceable.

He said: "It was pretty clear that Higgy would move on and good luck to him.

"Michael has been successful in Scotland and now he has the challenge of cracking it in Holland.

"He's shown he's able to score goals at the highest level in Scotland and that is an ability that works for you wherever you go.

"It will be a big ask to replace the number of goals he scored for Motherwell last season but it is up to the rest of the boys to step up to the mark.

"I imagine the manager will want to bring in someone else up top as well to throw into the mix.

"As they say, no-one is indispensable."