Motherwell boss Graham Alexander says he hopes talks with striker Devante Cole will convince him to sign a new deal
The 25-year-old is out of contract in the summer but has enjoyed a successful season and bagged his 11th of the campaign in today's 2-0 win over Kilmarnock, before setting up a second for Stephen O'Donnell late in the game.
Cole is a player Alexander is keen to keep hold of, but says he needs more consistency.
Alexander said: "Devante has been excellent, you can 't ask any more from a number nine, really, and I think his goals stand out for themselves, they're there for everyone to see.
"His all-round contribution and link-up play, and the defensive side of it, has been excellent as it has with the others - we can't win games with just one centre-forward and a good defender, it has to be a whole team performance.
"But goal-scorers get the limelight and he deserves it, he's been excellent since I got here, and I'm delighted with his contribution, but there are a lot of lads going under the radar who are playing as well as him as well, so it's great to see.
"All we talk about all the time is 'be a team' all the time, and that's what I think our success has been based upon."
Alexander added: "I certainly hope Devante will be here next season.
"We spoke to him quite a while ago about his contract and everything like that, so it's still ongoing, but we would be delighted to keep him.
"I think we can help him improve and get to the next level. I think he needs to add to his game the consistency of being at one club for a certain amount of time.
"I think he has led a little bit of a nomadic existence up until now, but he's certainly got the qualities of having a top-level career and I believe we can help him in that, but we'll see how it goes."
Meanwhile, Alexander says Motherwell's position in seventh place in the Premiership won't change their outlook to their remaining games against Dundee United and Ross County.
He said: That was a strong a team as I felt I could put out today to win the game, and nothing will change in the last two games.
"I think it's important for the integrity of us, as a club, I think it's important for the integrity of the league, and we take that seriously. We want to win games, so we will be going full-strength in the last two games."
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