Craig Brown's planning for Motherwell's Europa League tie with Aalesunds has been typically extensive. Pic: ©SNS Group
Craig Brown has again left nothing to chance in preparing for Motherwell’s third game in this season’s Europa League. Having seen off Iceland’s Breidablik 2-0 on aggregate in the last round, Norwegian club Aalesunds stand in the SPL club’s way of reaching the play-off stage, playing host to Brown’s team on Thursday night.
Bobby Jenks was the man charged with scouting the Steelmen’s opposition and returned with a wealth of information for Brown and Archie Knox to pore over in the build-up to the match.
As was the case against Breidablik, Brown is candid about where Aalesunds’ strengths lie and knows his team will be in for a formidable test in what should be a busy Color Line Stadium.
“He [Jenks] came back with a comp report and was also lucky enough to get his hands on a DVD of their game on Saturday," said Brown. “So we know what we are up against, our preparation has been thorough.
“They are a very good team, athletic, fit, organised. The Norwegian league is tougher than the Icelandic one and they defeated the second-placed team at the weekend.
“Their full-back Jonatan Tollas is a good player who gets forward and gets crosses in. They have also got a Jamaican midfielder on the left, Demar Phillips, who puts some wonderful crosses into the box.
“They have a brand new stadium with 11,500 seats and we expect it to be full.”
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Aalesunds occupy fourth spot in the Norwegian top flight, 10 points behind leaders Rosenborg with 12 games left to play. Second placed side Valerenga fell foul of the formidable home record of Motherwell’s opponents, losing 1-0 courtesy of Alex Mathisen’s 90th minute winner.
Kjetil Rekdal’s team have lost just one of their nine home games this season, scoring 17 and conceding eight. Former Norway international Rekdal is eager for his team to keep it tight at the back in the home leg, giving his team a platform to build upon in the second leg.
“Motherwell are used to coming under pressure against Rangers and Celtic,” Rekdal said of the tie. “They have achieved good results against them and know how to play in those matches.
“We have to be at our best. It is a big difference between playing away and at home, so keeping a clean sheet would be a huge advantage.”
