KEITH LASLEY has spent a year glancing back into the past.

DVD re-runs, anniversary dinners, commemorative scarves, even the strip he wore last Saturday in the Betfred Cup tie against Annan Athletic was a reminder of the great achievement of the previous generation. A generation of names that are still being recited by the kids of today who weren’t even a glint in the milkman’s eye when the event took place.

Cooper, O’Donnell, Kirk, Arnott, Maxwell, Boyd are just a few of the names that are emblazoned across Motherwell’s third kit for the forthcoming campaign on what is the 25th anniversary of the last time a senior piece of silverware was carried on an open-top bus with claret and amber ribbons draped from it.

All of this brings Lasley to one conclusion – it’s time for another bus.

The Motherwell captain has enjoyed so many highs during his time at Fir Park. Captaining Motherwell to second in the league, taking them into Champions League qualification, even starring for them in the Scottish Cup final of 2011. Yet the midfielder candidly admits that having a winner’s medal of some sort draped around his neck is the one thing missing from a career that is running out of time to put it right.

“Of course it is, it’s a big miss,” said the 36-year-old.

“There’s been one final, a few semi-finals so it’s something that’s alluded me. A lot of the other things like playing in Europe, captaining the club in a Champions League qualifier exceeded my expectations in a lot of ways.

“But it’s funny watching the other semi-finals and finals you do get that bit of envy. You think ‘I’d love that to be me’ and I’m sure the other guys are no different. Everyone in the dressing room will be the same.

“You know what it means. We’ve had enough anniversary dinners at this club so hopefully we can write a new chapter soon and it can be this year.

“From a personal point of view I’ve had far more highs than lows here, and moments that I thought would never happen that exceeded my expectations.

“It’s certainly something that if not rank right at the top, that would certainly be up there.”

If Lasley and his team are going to bring back the League Cup back to Fir Park for only the second time in the club’s history, they must first deal with Stranraer this afternoon. They travel to Stair Park joint second with their hosts in Betfred Cup Group F, knowing a victory should be enough to take them through to the last 16.

A first-day defeat to Rangers – a game Motherwell could have been out of sight in within the first 10 minutes – was swiftly rectified with a 3-1 win over Annan prior to Tuesday’s convincing 3-0 rout of East Stirlingshire. The club captain knows another professional job is required today.

He added: “It’s alright talking about this but we have to get over a big hurdle in Stranraer. It’s probably games like this that we’ve not taken care of in recent years, and that’s the reason why we haven’t won a trophy.

“You never know and there’s some other members of the squad in there of a similar vintage who I’m sure will have the same thoughts.

“We’d love to bring a trophy back to this club. I’ve been associated with them for a long time now and we’ve had European football and great success in the league, but I don’t think anything can be a cup victory and that feeling. The fans treasure it.

“To be part of a team that does that would be fantastic. It’s up to us to go down to Stranraer. You need to take care of those games to have any chance.

“We’ve been saying we’re due a turn for 25 years now – the silver anniversary [of the Scottish Cup win] tells us that. But it is about time we went further in the cups because our record in recent seasons hasn’t been good enough.

"We’ve had enough anniversary dinners at this club so hopefully we can write a new chapter soon and it can be this year."