MOTHERWELL legend Willie Pettigrew has backed Michael Higdon to land the PFA Player of the Year award.

The striker broke the Fir Park icon's 37-year post-war goalscoring record on Friday when he notched his 24th and 25th of the season.

That has catapulted the big Scouser into the frame, alongside Aberdeen top scorer Nial McGinn, Inverness ace Andrew Shinnie and Hibernian hot shot Leigh Griffiths, as one of the four nominations for the coveted award.

Not surprisingly, the Seventies star says Higgy is the favourite to claim the gong Pettigrew failed to land himself, despite finishing at the summit of the top flight's goal charts.

The Motherwell great said: "For me Higdon has to be the Player of the Year. He is the outstanding candidate for the award.

"To have scored 25 goals in one season at a provincial club like Motherwell is an exceptional feat and one that will go a good few years before it is repeated.

"I set my record with 23 goals way back in 75/76 and it has taken 37 years before Michael has come along and broken it. That is the proof of how hard it is to have that kind of season outside of Celtic and Rangers.

"I can only hope that Michael has better luck than I did with the award. If memory serves I was second twice to Kenny Dalglish and Derek Johnstone, but the big plus for him here is that there are no Old Firm players in the frame for it.

"But then, even if they were, Michael is still the top scorer in the SPL and I believe he will score more over the last four games of the season."

Pettigrew watched the pictures of Higdon smashing his 37-year record beamed back live from Tannadice last Friday night, but says it was almost a relief that his top tally had finally been broken.

The great striker said: "Thirty seven years is a long time for a record to stand and, no disrespect, I hope that Michael's new record will not stand for that length of time.

"It was great news for the club that my record had gone because it meant that one of the current Motherwell players was having an exceptional season."

HE ADDED: "Hopefully there will be someone along following in his footsteps a lot quicker than he followed in mine.

"But I watched the quality of his two finishes at Tannadice and they were both top drawer. In fact, I'd say that the first one, the rocket shot, must be the pacesetter for any goal- of-the-season award.

"The second goal was more of a real finisher's notch, but that is the key to Michael's success, he can score any kind of goal with either foot or his head."

Pettigrew reckons that Higgy's supporting cast deserve to be mentioned in dispatches and, with Henrik Ojamaa also nominated for the Young Player of the Year award, recognition may indeed come their way.

He said: "Any striker will tell you that he is only as good as the service he gets and Michael is very lucky that he has had the likes of Chris Humphrey and Henrik Ojamaa alongside him, with Jamie Murphy in the first-half of the season.

"But the bottom line is that Higgy puts the ball in the net and his goals have put the team in pole position for second place and another European campaign."