McGhee surprised by talent at his disposal but it's time to prove worth

LIKE anyone returning home after a 17-year odyssey, Mark McGhee didn't know quite what to expect. After seven weeks at his new post as manager of Motherwell, the uncertainty is still not dispelled.

Enlightenment of a sort may be forthcoming this afternoon at St Mirren Park in Paisley, where the former Aberdeen, Hamburg and Celtic midfielder's team play their first competitive match, the start of the endurance test that is the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

It is an occasion which should provide a proper test of McGhee's slight concern that he may have been deluding himself over the standard of player he has encountered at Fir Park.

"To be honest, I wasn't quite prepared for the number of good players we seem to have at the club," said McGhee, whose 15 years as a manager have embraced Reading, Leicester, Wolves, Millwall and Brighton in both the Premiership and the Championship in England.

"They are a young squad and their enthusiasm is terrific. In a way, it's a little confusing. I've seen so many good things in our pre-season preparations that I wonder at times if I'm deluding myself. But I've been in the game long enough to know the difference between rehearsals and the real thing.

"I won't really be sure of the standard of squad I have until I see them in competitive action. Although I've been impressed by what I've seen, nothing that's gone before really counts until you get started in earnest.

"There is ability within the group, but can they score goals in the heat of battle as they seem capable of in the prep work? Can they defend better than they were able to last season - I've watched a lot of videos of that period - when they meet the kind of pressure they will at St Mirren?

"When I look at many of the goals they conceded last year - and it was too many - what concerns me is how they will perform as an entire unit. I mean, the goals they leaked last season were not merely the fault of the defence, but also of failures elsewhere in the team.

"The question I'm asking is, although they have shown in the pre-season outings that they can pass and play, will they still have the nerve and the ability to move the ball in the same way when St Mirren are rolling their sleeves up and coming at them? Because that's how it's going to be in matches where teams are aware from the start of the need to battle for survival in the league."

McGhee's recognition of the looming need for mental and physical toughness ensures that, at Motherwell, the usual eve-of-new-season optimism that abounds at most clubs will be strictly rationed.

"We can't afford to start off assuming we're better than other teams who are tipped to be involved in the relegation fight," he said. "In fact, we have to assume the opposite, that we are the worst. We have to set out with the assumption that we'll be in a scrap from the very beginning. If they get that attitude right, they can then give themselves a chance to show their quality."

The loss of Scott McDonald to Celtic and Brian Kerr to Hibernian clearly requires compensation, the former having contributed 16 goals last season. McGhee is confident, however, that Ross McCormack, the former Rangers striker, and Chris Porter, acquired on a Bosman from Oldham, will be more than adequate replacements.

"I haven't seen much of Scott McDonald, but he must be a very good player if he's better than McCormack," he said.

"Ross suffered from a virus for much of last year, but he's back to full health and fitness now. He has lost weight and he looks a proper player, better than most I have seen in the Championship in England. I firmly believe he'll show this season how good he is. And there are other areas that will be stronger as a result of players returning, like him.

"Guys like Phil O'Donnell, Brian McLean and Keith Lasley, all bothered by injury for long periods last season, are back to their best and that's like having new players in, because they weren't available for so long before. These are lads that a club like Motherwell could ill afford to lose for as long as they did.

"We do need to defend better than before in an all-round sense, not just leaving it to the men at the back. Young Mark Reynolds in central defence obviously has a lot of promise. He reads the game well, he is quick and he has a good spring. But, like his colleagues at the back, he'll need more help from others further upfield.

"All of this, though, has still to be put to the test. We'll know a lot more about ourselves after the visit to St Mirren."