Alfred Johansson insists Motherwell’s Conference League future is far from assured despite an encouraging 2-0 qualifying win over HB Torshavn at Fir Park.
Debutant Martin Moormann thundered in the opener from 25 yards after 15 minutes of the first leg of the second qualifier.
The Steelmen doubled their lead in the 57th minute through another terrific strike, this time from midfielder Lukas Fadinger.
If Well win through the second leg in the Faroe Islands next week, it will book a third-round clash most likely against HJK Helsinki, who beat Coleraine 5-0 in their first leg.
After his first competitive game as Motherwell boss, Johansson said: “I think that it’s half-time and I think you win zero games at half-time.
“You win after the two legs, 180 minutes-plus. And that’s very important; that’s what we spoke about before the game, and that’s what I would have told you if we lost, if we drew or won today.
“So I think it’s going to be very difficult in the Faroe Islands. This is a team that has a European pedigree, whether we want to admit that or not, they have it.
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“It’s not long ago that they played in a group stage in Europe. It’s a regular basis for them to play these kind of qualification games, second round of Conference League or Europa League.
“So we have to give them the respect that they deserve, and we’ve seen other Scottish teams that have not maybe achieved what we achieved today in the first leg. So we have to give them the credit, and therefore, it’s going to be really difficult over there.
“But we will go there with confidence because we’ve been preparing really, really well, and I think we looked decent today and I think we had moments that were really, really good.
“So we need to go there with confidence, but we need to make sure to understand that it’s going to be a completely different kind of game.”
HB boss Lukasz Cieslewicz was equally confident that the tie is far from over. He said: “Of course, we are not happy with the result. We’re always going on the pitch to win but I’m happy with the performance.
“The guys did everything they could, and two great goals for Motherwell decided the game. But overall, I think we did well, and we are looking forward to the next game.
“Of course, we always give ourselves a chance. We have tried it before in European games, where we are behind, but in the Faroe Islands the games are completely different.
“So we always play to win and we believe we have a chance.”
