Motherwell

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Motherwell cannot afford to sit back on their 2-0 lead in the second leg of their Conference League second qualifying round tie away to HB Torshevn, Joelle Murray has warned.

The Hibernian women's head coach recognises it was "a very good performance" and "a good result" in the first leg at Fir Park.

That is despite "probably a bit of fearfulness from supporters" given the loss of several of last season's top performers and the absence of top scorer Tawanda Maswanhise.

"Very impressive result, but it's going to be difficult because, as has been reported all week, HB have created a fortress," Murray said on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast about the side who are unbeaten in eight home European ties since losing to Levadia Tallinn of Estonia 10 years ago.

"So it certainly won't be easy, but they've given themselves a really, really good chance and given themselves a good foundation to go into this evening's game.

"But that scoreline is probably the most difficult one in football, whether it's for you or certainly against you.

"What Motherwell can't do is go into tonight's game and try to defend the 2-0 because it just encourages pressure, it just builds momentum for HB.

"So I think they need to go over there and try and win the game. I don't think they can sit back, defend the two-goal lead and be complacent.

"They've got the quality - Maswanhise is seemingly available after his fractured jaw, Longelo available, whether it be from the start or the bench."

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Motherwell are determined not to let their European adventure end at the first hurdle after working so hard to earn the opportunity, says Emmanuel Longelo.

The Fir Park side have travelled to the Faroe Islands for the second leg of their second-round Conference League qualifier after beating HB Torshavn last week.

Well hold a two-goal advantage and left-back Longelo says they go into the game "knowing that we need to do a job".

"We worked hard to get this reward in European football, so we're never going to take it lightly," the 25-year-old added.

"It's big for me because I had only ever played in one European game before and I want to be playing in European games.

"When I was at West Ham, we played a Europa League game and lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb.

"It was an amazing experience - it was one of my first starts. It was an amazing day. I still remember it.

"Motherwell want to be playing European games, so it's huge for us. The squad is feeling very good.

"Obviously we know we can't get ahead of ourselves because it's only half-time. And now we know that HB have a very strong home record.

"So we're feeling good, very confident, but we need to keep a steady head."

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson has been speaking to the media as his team get set to head to the Faroe Islands to face HB Torshavn with a 2-0 aggregate lead.

Here's the best of it:

• Forward Tawanda Maswanhise is set to be involved in Thursday's game after suffering a jaw injury in pre-season, but will not start.

• Johansson has told his team to "eat barbed wire" in preparation for a battle against their hosts.

• The Motherwell boss insists his side will not "park the bus" and defend their lead without any attacking intent.

• He expects a challenging game against a Torshavn side with a formidable European home record of no defeats in the last five seasons.

• In terms of transfers, Johansson admits the club are close to doing "a thing or two" in terms of bringing in new players.

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

Where will you finish in the league and why?

From what we have seen from our new manager, Alfred Johansson, and signings so far there is no reason to believe that we won't finish in the top six. Ideally we can finish fourth again or, at the bare minimum, fifth and hope whoever wins the league also wins the Scottish Cup so we could make back-to-back European campaigns.

Who is the best signing or has he not signed yet and who should it be?

With having only played two games with fans present it is hard to fully say who has been the best addition to the squad so far. By default, I would have to say Martin Moorman after his 25-yard wonder goal that put us ahead last Thursday [against HB Torshavn]. The new players overall seem to have gelled well with the original team, alongside the younger players we have seen come through from the academy. I would still like to see an extra striker and maybe two more defenders come through just to be on the safe side while we try reducing our injury backlog.

What do you want from your manager this season?

It is peculiar to have a manager that has never actually played football however, as long as he continues to give the younger players opportunities to play, implements a style as close as possible to Jens Berthel Askou's and takes us to the minimum of the quarter-final of each cup I will be happy. I can see us finishing top six as well. however that can be a flexible expectation as long as we are not flirting with the relegation zone.

Who will be the breakout star in your squad?

Last year we had several breakout stars due to having one of the best talent pools I have ever witnessed in my 24 years of being a 'Well fan. This season it is hard to fully single out one player as being our next Elijah Just or Elliot Watt because we do have such a strong team. Last season you could have also argued that Paul McGinn and Stephen O'Donnell were unexpected stars despite being veterans of the game due to how much of a transformation they had. We will need to see a lot more adaptability this year from players to try and fill the boots of Just, Watt and Callum Slattery and I think Lukas Fadinger may just be the man to do it. He was trying to command the midfield the same way Slattery did for years on Thursday and if he continues to emulate Slattery's style and role, I can see him becoming hugely important for us.

What is your one major concern?

The only concern I have niggling in the back of my mind is how we make the most out of the money we've brought in this year.

We do need some major investments into the Phil O'Donnell stand. The club has taken the initiative to replace the old wooden seats with new plastic ones; the new seats however, have been being hugely criticised for the lack of leg room and comfort. I know you can't please everyone, however if we can split the £8m towards tweaking the new seats, reinforcing the infrastructure itself within the stand and then a couple of more players I will be happy.

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Motherwell have signed midfielder Alex Lowry on a season-long loan from Wycombe Wanderers.

The 23-year-old former Rangers player scored three goals in 24 appearances for the English League One club last season but last featured on Boxing Day 2025.

"We see this as a great opportunity for Alex and the club," Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson told club media.

"He is a technically gifted footballer who enjoys being on the ball and being creative.

"His knowledge of Scottish football and experience here could prove vital over the next 12 months.

"The staff behind the scenes have been meticulous in their scouting of Alex, and I have no doubt he will slot into our team well."

Lowry, who is ineligible to play in Thursday's Conference League qualifying second leg tie away to Havnar Boltfelag, made his Rangers debut in January 2022.

He went on to feature in 12 games for the Ibrox club, including a Champions League outing from the bench against Ajax.

A loan to Hearts in the 2023-24 season was cut short after 12 starts and he joined Wycombe in January of 2025.

"It's great to be back up the road," said Lowry.

"Being a Scottish football fan, everyone knows Motherwell were an outstanding team last year. But having spoken to the manager, it's already clear he has his own ideas for what he wants the team to look like, and I think even in these early stages, the identity is clear.

"I feel I can add to the already strong squad assembled here and I'm looking forward to kicking on this season."

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Alex Paulsen revealed former Motherwell star Elijah Just was a key factor in his move to Fir Park.

Just left Motherwell for a club-record fee earlier this summer, signing for Swansea City off the back of an impressive World Cup campaign with New Zealand.

His international teammate Paulsen spoke to Just about his time in the Scottish Premiership before moving north of the border on loan from Bournemouth.

The 24-year-old goalkeeper made his Motherwell debut in Thursday's 2-0 win over HB in Conference League qualifying, making several good saves.

"Yeah, [Just] had a lot of great things to say about the club," said Paulsen.

"It's a community club. Everybody's around here. Everybody's hard working.

"It was pretty much when Eli said that, it was a no-brainer for me. It's been really, really fantastic.

"He just said that the coach is trying to implement a new style and it's going to take a bit of time for me to continue to get used to the players as well. But yeah, Eli, he had great things to say about the club."

Paulsen was not surprised to see Just get a big-money move.

He said: "I've been with Eli with a couple of national team [camps] and a couple of international windows so it was just great to see him perform at the World Cup and on the world stage.

"It was just fantastic and I'm really proud of him to get that move to Swansea as well.

"He's had a really good journey and also had some obstacles to face overseas in Europe, like anybody else.

"So I'm just kind of happy for him that he's gone and got that move with another fellow kiwi [Marko Stamenic], over there at Swansea City as well."

Despite Thursday's impressive win, Paulsen is taking nothing for granted next week in the Faroe Islands.

"It's great for us to have that lead heading into the away fixture next week and we know that it's going to be a tough game going over there and playing on the artificial surface as well, it's going to be very difficult," he said.

"So we know that we're just leading at half-time and we've got to finish off the game next week with the heads down and continuing to work hard."

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Former Motherwell striker Cillian Sheridan is fully confident the Steelmen will make it through to the third round of Conference League qualifying after their first leg victory against HB on Thursday.

In Alfred Johansson's first competitive game as manager, Motherwell won 2-0 at Fir Park thanks to goals from Martin Moormann and Lukas Fadinger.

HB Torshavn are currently fifth in the Faroese top flight after 16 games, having finished second last season to secure their Conference League place.

"I'm going to put my neck out and say I think they will go through," Sheridan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"You can't go away to the Faroe Islands and lose a two-goal lead. Plus this is the Conference League, it's not the champions of the Faroe Islands, it's their team that finished in the Conference League positions.

"I'm willing to have egg on my face at the end of this, but no, they're not going to give up this lead."

Motherwell fans, we asked for your views after new manager Alfred Johansson's first competitive game in charge as the Steelmean beat HB Torshavn 2-0 in the first leg of their Conference League qualifier.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Stuart: I know it is the first competitive game of the season but there was a lot more pros than cons on that showing last night. The new signings look as if they could fill the void of the players that have left. As the season gets going and we get injured players back and a few more signings in there could be life after Jens [Berthel Askou] after all.

Archie: A good performance. Another goal would have been comforting though, given HB's strong home record.

Mark: I have to say I went into Fir Park quite nervous due to injuries and a thin squad, but this Motherwell team keeps surprising me no matter what shape it takes. The style of play looks very similar to last season, thankfully, and it's good to see us actually shooting from more than 10 yards out. Oscar Priestman and Martin Moorman in particular looked very very good. Onto the Faroes.

James N: A deserved victory for Motherwell. A few more goals would have been good, some very good performances especially from Lukas Fadinger and Priestman. A good performance next week and we are in the next round.

Dylan: Great game, a good warm up. The new players seemed to do well. Mikey Booth is going to be the next Lennon Miller if he gets the minutes. All good things to come from Motherwell this season.

James W: Thought Priestman was man of the match. Ewan Wilson was also excellent. Booth showed up well but we need a striker ASAP. Decent football, played on the deck. Thought Moorman and Jake Girdwood- Reich were really decent and can both play. Good first showing.

Motherwell took a step towards the Conference League proper with a polished first-leg victory over Havnar Boltfelag in the second round of qualifying.

Read the match report here.

Have your say on the result here.

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "Coming off pre-season, we had eight players make their debuts with three academy graduates getting their first minutes.

"We managed to get a result in the first leg with all those debuts, looking like a team that wants to fight for each other.

"[HB] are European regulars and we have seen with other Scottish teams how difficult it can be when you face this type of team.

"We managed to keep stability in the way the team plays. It is two legs - this is half-time and it is going to be very difficult to go the Faroe Islands and face them on astroturf. They probably feel they got a pretty good result and [the tie] is alive.

"We need to use this week really good and prepare for a difficult away game.

"We could have scored at least one more, but that's football sometimes. Also, it's nice to see we have a really strong keeper who decides the outcome of the first leg with some class saves.

"It's going to be difficult next week but we go there with confidence.

"I think we're pretty close to do a thing or two [transfer-wise], but it's a long window. We have to have patience to get the right people in the door."

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HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands head to Fir Park for Thursday's Conference League second-round qualifier and, while many of the home crowd may not be up to speed on their Faroese domestic football, they may also be wondering how their own side will set up.

However, former Well midfielder Andy Halliday is full of confidence that his ex-teammates will be able to get over the line.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Halliday told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I watched Motherwell at the weekend against Genk in their last friendly before preparations for tonight and it was an outstanding game, it really was.

"Motherwell, in terms of style, looked fairly similar to Jens Bertel Askou's Motherwell last year.

"You can certainly see Alfred Johansson putting his own spin on things though. There were a couple of tweaks within that."

Motherwell have had no time to reinvest the club record fee that they received from Swansea City for Elijah Just and have a glut of injured players unable to play their part on Thursday evening.

"I look at the line-up, I look at the bench, and it's just so easy to notice the amount of big players that Motherwell are missing at this point in time," Halliday added.

"So I don't think we'll see the best version of Motherwell tonight. How do you replace Elijah Just? How do you replace Callum Slattery? How do you replace Elliot Watt?

"But I think, if Motherwell are even close to their best, it should be more than enough."

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Elijah Just may have only spent one season at Motherwell but his brief stay "will be remembered fondly by everyone", says chief executive Brian Caldwell after the midfielder's move to Swansea City was completed.

The transfer fee for the 26-year-old is undisclosed but it is confirmed as a new club record at Fir Park, eclipsing the amount received for Lennon Miller from Udinese last summer, while add-ons could see the figure rise.

The New Zealand international scored seven goals and provided eight assists in 43 Motherwell appearances.

Just's displays earned him a place in the PFA Scotland team of the season, while he made the four-man shortlist for player of the year.

"His 12 months at the club will be remembered fondly by everyone, and he is a humble and genuine person who deserves every success," wrote Caldwell.

"As a club, this move marks another hugely successful moment for our overall strategy. Setting a new record sale for the second time in the space of 11 months is down to the hard work of all the football staff."

Just is the fourth departure from the squad that finished fourth in the Premiership last term, along with manager Jens Berthel Askou.

New boss Alfred Johansson has five new recruits so far, with Caldwell saying work continues in the hunt for additions.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Havnar Boltfelag Torshavn, to give them their full name, currently sit fifth in the Effodeildin table 16 games into the 2026 season, having been runners-up last year, but have not played a competitive game since 5 July.

Motherwell will be hoping they will have lost much of the match sharpness that carried them into their summer break with three wins in their past four games when the Faroe Islanders head to Fir Park for Thursday's Conference League second-round qualifier.

That hints at an improvement under Lukasz Cieslewicz, who was promoted from reserve team manager to caretaker after the dismissal of Andre Olsen on 20 June.

The 24-time Faroes champions will be without ex-Motherwell forward Moses Ebiye, who was not granted a visa in time, along with Senegalese midfielder Amidou Diop.

It leaves a squad with only eight players who have experienced domestic football outside the Faroes, although six have played for their country, including former Sligo Rovers midfielder Stefan Radosavljevic.

Interestingly, this will be the second European meeting between the clubs after their Uefa Cup preliminary round tie back in 1994.

Motherwell won 7-1 over two legs to set up a meeting with Borussia Dortmund.

HB have only won three of their 37 European ties, their latest being a 6-0 Conference League qualifying defeat of Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro in 2021.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park

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European football returns to Fir Park on Thursday as Motherwell welcome HB Torshavn in Conference League qualifying.

Manager Alfred Johansson spoke to the media prior to the first leg. Here are the key points:

• The Motherwell boss is hopeful that some of the glut of injured players will be back for the tie, but said a decision had not yet been made.

• Elijah Just's move to Swansea remains at an advanced stage. The New Zealand international is expected to leave for a club-record fee.

• Johansson sees a "really committed" squad when asked if others may also leave, while saying work is being done to bring more players in.

• New defender Dylan Williams will play a part in Thursday's first leg after joining from Burton.

• The Fir Park boss described it as "exciting" to have such an important game so soon, saying his team "could have been in a much worse position".

• Johansson has faith in the club's young players and the impact they could make after Friday's spirited showing against Genk.

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Manager Alfred Johansson says Motherwell have signed an "attack-minded and exciting defender" in Dylan Williams.

The 22-year-old has joined the Fir Park side from Burton Albion for an undisclosed fee, penning a two-year deal with the club holding the option of a further year.

The former Chelsea and Derby youth player is eligible for Motherwell's Conference League second-round qualifier against Faroese outfit HB.

"A humble young man, Dylan has been in first-team environments since he broke into the Derby County team at a young age," said Johansson.

"He is an incredibly mature man, and we've had some excellent discussions about what we want Dylan to do in our system.

"He is an attack-minded and exciting defender, but most importantly, he works incredibly hard for his team-mates."

Williams, who played 31 times for League One Burton last season, added: "I've spoken to a number of people about Motherwell. Everyone has had positive things to say about the club.

"The initial discussions with the manager were encouraging, and he's been so clear on what he wants me to do. Key messaging and a clear desire to bring me to the club meant it was an easy decision to come here."

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell fans hoping for a glamour European tie might feel a tad disappointed given the potential opponents the Fir Park club could have been drawn against in the third round of Conference League qualifying.

The Lanarkshire side also avoided some big hitters in the previous stage, where they will instead face the Faroese outfit HB over two legs.

The first of those games takes place at Fir Park this Thursday, before a trip to Torshavn next week.

It certainly will not be an easy tie for Alfred Johansson's team, especially given their ongoing injury crisis and the fact that Elijah Just is set to join Elliot Watt and Calum Ward in heading for the exit door.

However, Motherwell will still be favourites for the two-legged affair, and if they progress they will seal a date with either Coleraine or HJK Helsinki.

Motherwell beat the Northern Irish side Coleraine during their failed Europa League qualifying attempt in 2020, while on paper HJK pose a more formidable test.

The 2025 Finnish Cup winners finished fifth in their 12-team league last term and are currently fifth in their division after 16 rounds of fixtures, but they boast better European pedigree than their potential Scottish opponents.

They have played in the Conference League proper in two of their past three seasons, drawing with Aberdeen twice in 2023-24.

But scraping past NSI Runavik of the Faroe Islands in qualifying last term before being beaten by the Bulgarian outfit Arda Kardzhali perhaps suggests they are not the force they once were.

Motherwell fans will be wary of looking too far ahead. A horror defeat to Sligo Rovers brought a rapid end to their most recent European campaign, but their path to the play-offs looks far more forgiving than it could have been.