Shiels junior joined Kilmarnock on loan from Doncaster just in time for the Scottish Premier League contest at Rugby Park, coming off the bench in the 73rd minute.
The Killie boss believes the former Hibernian player can help provide the end product needed after his team's second draw in two games this season.
Both sides produced some good spells of possession, with Motherwell on top in the first half.
But neither team had the clinical edge required and Killie goalkeeper Cammy Bell produced an excellent save from a long-range Steve Jennings shot to keep the scores blank.
Shiels senior said: "I would say we are lacking a wee bit of punch.
"We are at the early stages of reconstruction. Motherwell have a team that has been together for quite a while. They are an example of a team with cohesion and continuity.
"I'm more than pleased with the direction we are moving in.
"You can be pedantic and pick little things about why there were no goals.
"The goalkeepers were very good - that's one of the reasons. But we do need to be sharper in the final third, more penetrative and productive."
The Kilmarnock manager, who described the game as a great advert for the SPL, added: "Dean is someone who can bring that. He is both creative and productive as well. He scores goals, he creates goals.
"He is a player I know will help alleviate the pressure from the striker. We have got the flair to score goals."
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall pointed to the heat as another possible reason why the game finished goalless, with both sides eager to hold on to the ball before tiring in the latter stages.
"I thought they started better but once we got the ball down and started moving it, we got into great areas," said McCall, whose team moved back to the top of the SPL after being briefly displaced by Rangers.
"We just didn't have final pass or finish. Having said that, Bell has pulled off two outstanding saves - just before half-time from (Bob) McHugh and the one from Jennings he just got his fingertip to.
"Nicky Law has gone through and the boy has come from nowhere and got a great tackle in. We had opportunities and could have done better.
"The second half was more even and I felt for the players in the last 15 minutes with the heat.
"Overall it's a clean sheet and there are a lot of aspects of the game to be pleased with. You have to be pleased with a point away from home.
"I can only remember Darren Randolph having a couple of reasonably comfortable saves from long range."
McCall was without former St Mirren striker Michael Higdon, who played with a thigh problem against Inverness last week.
"If he hadn't have had a scan he would have wanted to play today," McCall said.
"He's just got a little niggle at the top of his thigh and we don't want it to be a six-week job.
"I would imagine he will be out for the Hearts game and then he'll want to come back for the St Mirren game."
Source: Team Talk
Source: Team Talk