However, the youth ranks couldn't contain the tenacious and brave midfield dynamo and he soon found himself promoted to the senior squad under Tommy McLean. He was a mainstay in the heart of the Motherwell midfield in the early to mid-nineties and formed part of a famous trio containing Paul Lambert and Billy Davies in 'Well's fantastic team of 1994–1996. In one game on 7 December 1996, having started in his usual midfield role, he even played in goal for the last 30 minutes against Celtic when Motherwell goalkeeper Scott Howie was taken off injured. Although Celtic scored one goal past Dolan – more the result of a short passback than a goalkeeping error – Motherwell's Ian Ross scored in the last minute of the game to secure a heroic 2–1 victory.