Motherwell pair Stephen McMillan and Lee McCulloch have completed their protracted transfers to Wigan Athletic

The Fir Park duo join up with former team-mate Ged Brannan at teh JJB stadium in a move worth �1.25m.

Centre forward McCulloch becomes the Latics' record signing, having been valued at �700,000.

Both men should be available for the English Division Two side's Saturday fixture with Swindon, subject to clearance from the Scottish Football Association.

Taken a loss

Fir Park chief executive Pat Nevin has denied that Motherwell had taken a loss on the players by refusing previous individual bids for the pair.

Hearts were reported to have offered �1m for the services of 22-year-old McCulloch but Nevin insists the situation is not as clear cut as that.

He insists that being able to hold on to the pair a while longer meant a small loss was acceptable - although he stressed that the difference between previous offers and the current offer from Wigan was only marginal.

Nevin added: "There has only ever been one bid for Stephen and it's almost exactly the same as this one.

"The deal with Hearts wasn't necessarily a clear �1m like everyone seems to believe.

"You're talking about a set payment before and then dependent on appearances, things like that.

Purely cash

"So the fact that this one is purely cash means we've not lost a great deal on that."

Manager Billy Davies admits the uncertainty surrounding the players' move has made it difficult to prepare for their SPL clash against the Easter Road side at the weekend.

He said: "We just need to get on with it. We've got to go and pick the guys that are available to us and go into Sunday's game and hopefully get those guys playing at their best.

"It's going to be difficult because it's two really quality players - there's no doubt about it.

"In another way, I'm delighted in a sense for these guys because we have worked very hard with these young boys in the last couple of years and it's great to see them now moving down to England."