Jim Gannon claimed giving his Motherwell players the platform to shine had been the secret of his success after winning the Clydesdale Bank manager of the month award.

Gannon collected his prize on Thursday after Motherwell went unbeaten in the SPL in October.

Gannon's young team beat Falkirk and drew at Celtic and St Mirren before ending the month in fourth place thanks to a 1-0 victory over Hearts.

The former Stockport manager thanked his players and staff for securing the award - striker Lukas Jutkiewicz claimed the young player prize - and revealed his approach was simple.

"I don't know if it's an expertise," he said. "I might be fully qualified and think a lot about what I do, but I like to think what we do is a lot of common sense, not always common practice as they say.

"We just try to analyse the players and find out what they are best at, find the right formation for them and make sure it works by coaching them well.

"We have shifted a few things, not without any thought, always with the reasoning that we can get more out of the players.

"I think you saw that on Saturday when we tinkered with the shape and tactics and it worked extremely well on the day.

"We don't over-analyse things but we try to give the players every opportunity to go out and do what they are good at really well. I think that's the secret of what we're doing."

While Gannon has shown a tactical flair since moving to the SPL, he believes Saturday's Lanarkshire derby against Hamilton at New Douglas Park will come down to the desire of the players.

And the former Stockport player is relishing the prospect.

"I love local derbies, I think they are great," Gannon said. "There is always a bit more energy about them and a bit more passion.

"For all the experiences we've had in the Europa League and against the Old Firm and here, there and everywhere in the SPL, it's great to have a local derby. I just hope it's a really entertaining game.

"For me as a player the highlight was playing against Man City and never losing.

"It was a massive derby for us to play against such illustrious neighbours.

"We came across them in the league and it was unbelievable how super-human the efforts players can get to when they come up against a team they have been looking forward to playing all season.

"It's a really good high-tempo game to take us into the international break."