Mark McGhee keen to bring Stephen Pearson back to Motherwell

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee admits he is keen to bring Stephen Pearson back to Fir Park.

Pearson left for Atletico de Kolkata in June but is potentially available again after picking up an Indian Super League winners' medal within the past fortnight.

The 34-year-old hit nine goals in 28 games for Motherwell last season and McGhee lacked a left-sided midfielder since he and Marvin Johnson left.

When asked about the prospect of Pearson returning for a third spell, McGhee said: "It's something we would definitely consider.

"I know the boys, Faddy (James McFadden) for instance, are in touch with him and over the next week or so we will gather his thoughts.

"If he's thinking about coming back then we would certainly be in the market for him."

McGhee was meeting with chief scout Martin Foyle on the eve of Motherwell's Lanarkshire derby with Hamilton to discuss transfer plans for January.

"We have a little bit of flexibility in terms of the budget," he said. "We won't be going out and buying players but we have something in the budget where we can maybe sign one or two, whether it's on loan or, in the right circumstances, permanently.

"If there's anyone a wee bit surplus and they do move then that would help even more but it's not dependent on us moving anyone out."