Steven Hammell’s Euro vision

Sep 17 2008 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

STEVEN Hammell is hoping Motherwell come away from the Stade Marcel Picot unscathed in tomorrow night’s UEFA Cup first round, first leg tie against Nancy as he believes the Fir Parkers fear no-one when playing on home turf.

The left-back has targeted an away goal in France that will set the Lanarkshire side up perfectly for the return leg in a fortnight’s time.

Tomorrow night’s match will see ’Well make a surprise return to European football for the first time in 13 years having been brilliantly led to third spot in the SPL last season under the stewardship of gaffer Mark McGhee.

And victory in the double header against Nancy will land the club a massive cash windfall as a reward for qualifying for the lucrative group stages of the competition.

Hammell said: “If we went on to make it to the next stage it would be fantastic for the players, fans and everyone connected with the club.”

He continued: “We are going to need to be at our best if we want to get anything, especially over there.

“We have been told it is a good atmosphere in the stadium and the fans get right behind them. So as long as we can come back with a positive result and then do the business at Fir Park then we’ll be happy.

“If we can get an away goal against Nancy it will help us massively as we are confident of playing anyone here at Fir Park.”

Despite Nancy not being the most glamorous draw for Motherwell compared to other clubs they could have been paired up with – the likes of AC Milan, Tottenham and Everton to name but three – the 26-year-old defender appreciates it will still be a tough ask to come through the tie, saying: “It is a hard draw we have got in the UEFA Cup, but it could have been harder as well.

“I didn’t know much about the team. They came fourth in France last season behind teams like Lyon and Marseille so they are certainly no mugs.

“We have had them watched a couple of times but it is kind of like going into the unknown for us.

“But we will be ready for it.”

The tie is being played during a run of matches that will see the Fir Parkers play seven games in 23 days.

But Hammell believes Motherwell’s small first team squad can cope.

“In terms of recovery and getting the boys fresh again, they do a good job here,” he said.

“Touch wood we have been lucky with injuries for the past wee while with maybe one or two out at a time.”

He added: “It’s probably seven of the toughest games we could have had put together with two games against the Old Firm, two European games and the cup game against Hamilton in amongst that as well, but we are confident we can cope.”

Meanwhile, Motherwell manager Mark McGhee has revealed he will not be taking his side’s league cup match against Hamilton lightly despite it being sandwiched in between the tie with Nancy, and claims the fixture list means he has no choice but to fight on all fronts.

He said: “We are not a big enough club or have big enough numbers to be able to prioritise.

“We have just got to approach every game as it comes and try and win it.

“The Hamilton game will be as equally as important as any other game we have coming up and we certainly won’t be thinking we can beat them without putting our best team out.”