McGhee keen to keep McFadden at Motherwell until the end of the season

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee hopes the Steelmen are nearing a deal that will persuade James McFadden to remain at the club until the end of the season.

The former Scotland talisman made a surprise return to Fir Park in December when he penned a one-month contract.

But it was expected his third stint with the club he started his career with would be brief as he eyed up a move to the United States.

However, those plans have now fallen through and McGhee hopes to capitalise by extending his stay until May.

The Well manager said: "Faddy is not going abroad, we know that now.

"So we're hoping we can come to some arrangement that allows Faddy to stay to the end of the season."

Motherwell face two crucial Premiership fixtures over the next five days as they host bottom-six rivals Kilmarnock on Saturday before Tuesday's trip to bottom dogs Dundee United.

The double-header could yet prove decisive in their bid to make the top half of the table.

But McGhee is firstly hoping to see his men compete for the full 90 minutes after their latest dose of last-gasp agony.

The Lanarkshire outfit have yet to win in 2016 and their hopes have been hit by five last-minute goals, including three in their last three matches.

The latest - Jordan Roberts' thunderous strike for Inverness on Saturday - denied them a place in the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-finals and left McGhee raging after referee Steven McLean ignored a foul on Morgaro Gomis in the build-up.

The Fir Park boss, though, does admit his side have to take a share of the blame for their late setbacks.

"There has been different reasons," McGhee explained. "In the Partick Thistle game it was a lapse of concentration by one of the players.

"Against Dundee it was a farcical penalty decision while on Saturday against Inverness I felt it was another poor refereeing call that resulted in us having a man out of position when he would have been there to stop it.

"But what can you do? You just keep going and hope that it stops.

"I really don't think our form has changed. That is the frustrating thing. We're not playing any differently from when we were winning games.

"But it's like the sliding doors moment. There are moments in games that we seem to be getting punished for now that we weren't before.

"However, I still feel very confident in the group I have. There is no loss of spirit or loss of determination. We just have to hope we find that edge.

"There things we could do better and we're not for a second saying it's all bad luck but we certainly could do with a bit of a rub of the green with referees."