FOOTBALLERS have credited a number of different factors with turning their careers around and enabling them to enjoy success down the years. Knuckling down in training. Improving their diet. Being encouraged by a loved one. Finding God. They have all helped underperforming players come good.

But if Motherwell beat Celtic in the Betfred Cup final on Sunday afternoon Peter Hartley could be the first man to list unlocking the mystery of sex transmutation, harnessing the power of the master mind and tapping into his sixth sense as being responsible for him realising his potential.

Hartley yesterday revealed he has become a devotee of the classic 1937 self-improvement book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – a publication with some intriguing sounding chapter titles – in the last few years as he looked ahead to the game against the defending champions his weekend.

Nobody, though, can deny reading and re-reading the publication has worked wonders for him. The English defender has gone from being relegated in successive seasons with Hartlepool and then Stevenage to winning promotion with Bristol Rovers and now reaching a cup final with Motherwell as a direct result.

“Getting relegated two seasons in a row was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “It turned me from a boy to a man very quickly. I realised nothing in the game is given.

“After the second relegation, I went away with my missus in the summer and broke everything down. You question yourself a lot. You look yourself in the mirror and see what you could have done better to try and effect things differently.

“I tried to change my mindset. I read a few different books and went down a different path. I had never read books before. I also tried visualisation techniques, which were also new to me, before games.

“I like to listen to audio books. I’ve played quite far from home at times. I’m from near Newcastle and I played with Plymouth. That drive was long. You can only listen to so much music. So I used to listen to a lot of audio books about man management and the like.

“I saw Steve Peters (the renowned sports psychiatrist) went with England to the last World Cup so I read his book. I couldn’t really get into his first book, The Chimp Paradox. It didn’t help me too much, but that’s how it started.”

Hartley continued: “I’m big into setting goals weekly, daily, monthly and yearly. I read a book two or three years ago on holiday with my missus by a guy called Napoleon Hill called Think and Grow Rich.

“I’ve been reading it every summer since. It’s addictive. You get something new from it each time. It helps. You can physically be ready for a game, but if your mind isn’t right that won’t matter.

“If you look at my career from those two relegations I then went on to play back to back play-offs and got back into League One with Bristol Rovers last season. Now I’m in the Betfred Cup final with Motherwell so my approach has helped me.”

It certainly has. The 29-year-old has gone from being harangued by disgruntled fans at the local supermarket to being hailed as a hero when he is out in public. He believes he is a stronger person and better player after coming through the difficult times in his career.

“The worst moment was when I was captain of Hartlepool and we were relegated,” he said. “It is my home town club and I found it very difficult to walk around the streets. I had a dog’s life. That’s why it turned me into a man from a boy. It wasn’t just a job, it affected my day to day life. I couldn’t pop to Asda without taking pelters.

“You have to deal with it in a professional way. You can’t give back as much as you’re getting. At the time, when you’re stuck in that environment you think there’s no way out. But I was young and learned from it and here I am today.

“When you look back you realise and take the things from that situation and the experience I’ve had from being at the wrong end of the table so early in my career has helped me now.”

The likes of Louis Moult and Carl McHugh may not take the same cerebral approach to getting in the right frame of mind for matches as Hartley does but he is confident none of Stephen Robinson’s charges are daunted by taking on a opponents who are unbeaten in 64 domestic matches.

“The full team fears no one, “ he said. “That’s why we’ve we’ve had such a good start to the season. We’re going in without a fear factor. The fact we haven’t played Celtic yet helps us.”