Motherwell lose injured Harry Paton for "significant spell" as boss relieved to have Lennon Miller's versatility

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell is grateful for the versatility of Lennon Miller after losing Harry Paton to a serious ankle injury.

Paton faces a "significant" spell out as Motherwell await a full diagnosis on the injury that saw the Canada international miss Sunday's late defeat by Celtic.

Kettlewell is already missing Callum Slattery from his midfield for the rest of the season while Andy Halliday is nursing a calf problem and will again sit out Wednesday's cinch Premiership trip to Livingston.

Kettlewell said: "We have looked through the numbers and 15 players have been out for over a month this season, some of them for far more than a month. It really does make it difficult.

"So many of them have been freak accidents, impact injuries, we actually don't feel we have had that many muscle injuries."

Paton and Slattery were regular starters but Motherwell have recently been boosted by the return of Miller from a fractured kneecap.

The 17-year-old was a key player in a deep midfield role at the start of the season but he showed he could make a similar impact further up the pitch against Celtic.

Miller put team-mates clean through on goal twice in the opening 10 minutes and set up Blair Spittal's goal with a brilliant piece of skill.

Kettlewell said: "I believe in an all-round midfielder, I'm a little bit old-fashioned.

"I was brought up as a central midfield player to try and do everything. I sure as heck couldn't do everything, there were bits I could do better than others, but it was always my mindset to try and be as rounded as you possibly could be.

"When I watched Lennon, especially when I was working with him at under-18s and reserve level last season, he's got an eye for goal, an eye for a key pass in a