THE voice is a bit deeper and the hair remains unshaven.

In every other way, though, Josh Law is his brother's double. Motherwell fans would rarely be too excited by the club recruiting a player from England's Conference but the prospect of Nicky Law mark II adding to their midfield options has piqued their interest rather more.

Nicky, the elder of the pair, gave two years' sterling service to Motherwell before being enticed away to Rangers last summer and now Josh has signed up to take his place belatedly. The 24-year-old insists he is his own man rather than some clone of his brother but even his manager Stuart McCall was taken aback by the similarities.

"If you watch him in training, you would have thought it was Nicky," he said. "His style is exactly the same, the way he moves, passes and shoots. He's a decent finisher. I'm not saying he will go straight into the team and be a regular. He will probably be a squad player to start with. But there's scope for him to do that eventually."

Josh spent the past six years at Alfreton Town, the Conference Premier side managed by the boys' father, and was courted by clubs in England's League 1 and League 2 when his contract expired at the end of the season. The chance to follow in Nicky's footsteps and move north to Motherwell proved too tempting, though, especially with Europa League football looming next month.

"It's a massive move for me going from the Conference to the Scottish Premiership, and having European football to look forward to as well; it's a dream," said the 24-year-old. "Whenever I've watched Motherwell recently they've tried to play football and I think that will really suit me. They like to get the ball down and make the pitch big so I want to fit into that system if I can.

"I had heard a lot about the club beforehand from my brother and I came up to watch them a few times when he was here. Nicky had a really successful spell here so if I can get towards the level he reached here then I'll be doing well. It was a great move for him and he felt it could be good for me, too, if things go well."

Josh revealed the similarities between the pair stretch beyond their physical appearance. "I'll always draw comparisons with Nicky as I'm following the same path but I want to make a name for myself in my own right. I won't be shaving my head as I've not lost my hair like him! But we're similar types of player. We both like to get on the ball, create chances and work hard too.

"We're really close off the pitch so if anything it's always been a friendly rivalry between us. We get on well so it's not too competitive. He's 26 and I'm 24 so there's just a couple of years between us. I've got my own place with my girlfriend and our little boy but I'm not far from Nicky: 15 minutes or so. I was with him the other day for dinner so having him here has helped me settle."

With Motherwell competing in the SPFL Premiership and Rangers in the Championship, the brothers are not scheduled to meet next season unless a cup draw throws them together. "We played a lot together at junior levels but we've never come across each other professionally," added Josh.

"It would be good then if we got Rangers in the cup. I know Nicky would like to come back and play at Fir Park again as well."