Motherwell boss Graham Alexander hopes their summer training camp in Austria will set the building blocks for a successful European and domestic campaign.
And he says it’s great to be preparing for a Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie against either Wales’ Bala or Sligo Rovers from Ireland.
Alexander says he watched the draw with his family because it’s a new exciting experience for them all.
And he says Motherwell’s loyal fans will back them, wherever they end up in Europe.
Whoever comes through the first qualifying round tie will travel to Fir Park on July 21, with the return leg seven days later.
Before that, the Steelmen will head to the BSFZ Obertraun complex from July 3 to 10 in preparation for the new campaign.
Alexander said: “It’s interesting. We saw the games, we knew who we could get within a certain group of teams, and even now we still don’t know exactly which opponent we’ve got, which was a little bit disappointing.
“We would like to have been able to plan ahead, but we’ll find out soon enough when those two play each other.
“I think I remember at the time I said I don’t care, as long as we’re on the plane, and it doesn’t look that way, it looks like we’ll be on a bus or a ferry.
“I know, whether it’s Sligo or Bala, we’ll take a good support there. Wherever we would have been in Europe I think our supporters would have followed us.
“They were desperate for us to achieve it, to go to these games and be part of that travelling squad.
“If we’re good enough to progress through, wherever we play, we’ll have our loyal supporters, and it’s great to reward them for how they backed us last season with the excitement of being in European football.”
Alexander reiterated that there are no easy games at this stage in the competition, but hopes to progress.
He said: “I think every team in that competition has deserved their place in the draw, they will be competitive games, and we’ve got to realise that Britain and Ireland are in Europe, it could have been anyone that we played, and we’re really looking forward to whoever we play.
“The ambition is to win the tie and go through to the next round, if possible.
“But just sitting there waiting was exciting. I made a point of trying to find it online and watched it with my family at home, because it was a new experience, being in a European draw, personally, so it was great to be in there.
“It’s something we worked exceptionally hard for last season, to try and achieve, and now it’s coming round we see the potential fixture between those two teams and it brings home that there’s a competition right on our doorstep.”
On the trip to Austria, Alexander said: “I’ve been to that training camp before with other clubs, both as a manager and a player, and I think it’s a great venue to work on the fitness stuff, on our tactical shape and more than anything to get the boys together in an environment where there’s no distractions – it’s just us for seven days.
“I think a big part of winning games – certainly at our club, at Motherwell – is our togetherness, our team spirit.
“It’s a couple of weeks before these games come around, so I think it’s a really worthwhile experience.
“It’s not just about setting up for those European games, it’s obviously for the whole season . When we’ve been there before we’ve put down the building blocks for the season ahead in that training camp, and we’re really looking forward to it.”
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