Jens Berthel Askou praises Stephen O’Donnell after signing new Motherwell deal

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou hailed Stephen O’Donnell’s vital role in setting the culture at Fir Park after the long-serving defender extended his contract.

The 33-year-old has signed on for next season, which will be his seventh at the club.

Askou was also able to deliver some largely positive fitness news including on O’Donnell, who is back training after going off early on in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hibernian with a back injury.

The Dane said: “First of all, he’s a lovely character. He’s bubbly, he’s energetic, he talks with everyone and he’s really good at integrating the new players and getting young players involved as well.

“He has more than 200 appearances now, he’s from the area, so he knows how much it means. He’s well connected with the community, which is important for us. So he’s just a really important person for the culture.

“And then, he’s still a very, very good player who’s had a great season so far. No matter if we played him as a right-back, in a three, or as a centre-back, which is not his natural habitat, he’s done extremely well.”

The Motherwell manager delivered a fitness update on midfielder Elliot Watt, who will not miss a major chunk of the season with his muscle problem.

“He will be back at some point in February,” Askou said. “Exactly when, we will assess that along the way.

“It’s not a massive, major thing, but obviously it’s something that we are working on and trying to get him back fit.

“The same with Callum Hendry, who we are also managing. He has been a little bit overloaded, so he will also probably be out for a few weeks.

“The good thing is that Andy Halliday and Sam Nicholson are out there on the pitch with us doing part of the training.

“It’s so good to see these players who have been out for that long that I don’t even know how they actually move when they run. And then suddenly to see Sam, because he’s got a lovely movement on the football pitch, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about him.

“He’s been through a very, very tough period. So to see him out there touching the ball, running around with a smile on his face, it’s fantastic.”

Askou stressed they had a “very good dialogue with Celtic” over the possibility of Stephen Welsh returning on loan after the champions recalled him for cover.

“We will have to wait and see how things turn out at Celtic,” he said. “The door is absolutely still open for him to come back. I would love for him to walk in the door in a few days and put his Motherwell gear on.

“It is a situation we are looking at. If he doesn’t come back, how can we make the puzzle complete?

“There are both the options that we do it from within and also that we bring someone in.”

Askou was giving little away on Motherwell’s attempts to sign 25-year-old Norwegian striker Eythor Bjorgolfsson, who netted 15 goals in 29 games for Umea in Sweden’s second tier last year.

“We’re working on different things, and we’ll let you speculate and guess until we have something to say,” said Askou, whose team host Ross County in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup on Saturday.