O'Donnell 'a man among boys'

Scottish football has been rocked by the death of the former Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder, who failed to recover from a suspected seizure on Saturday. McGhee visited the O'Donnell family before addressing the media waiting outside Fir Park.

The Motherwell boss, flanked by assistant Scott Leitch and chief executive Ian Stillie, said: "Everyone, the players, the supporters, everyone inside the executive are devastated and absolutely dumbfounded by the event of Phil's death. He was a man among boys in every sense, in his attitude, his professionalism and integrity and sincerity."

He added: "Obviously from the football club's point of view, we are overwhelmed by the support here and we are going to miss a guy who was a fine man, a guy who was a fantastic example to all of his colleagues.

"He was a great, great player to have worked with and I'm honoured to have been his manager. His performance yesterday was the best of the season as far as we are concerned.

"He was energised by the performance of the younger players, he was inspired by them. There were times in the game when he looked across at us and smiled and shook his head because he was in awe of what was going on around him, the football that was being played and the attitude of the young players.

"I think he was proud to be part of that and I think they, as we said to them, should be proud to have provided him with that and to perform the way they did."

McGhee read a message from the O'Donnell family, who thanked everyone who had offered support since the tragedy.

"None of us yet can comprehend what has happened," it read.

"We have been overwhelmed by the support and messages from people inside and outside the football world. We are grateful for all the support we have received. In the meantime, we would appreciate our privacy is respected and we are given time to grieve."