Well advised of being wary to long for Europe

PREMIERSHIP clubs jet off to their pre-season training camps in the next few weeks.

But for Motherwell the continental stuff gets underway on Wednesday when the draw for the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League takes place in Nyon.

Exciting stuff for the Steelmen. These draws always are. But the novelty comes with a heavy warning that the journey into European competition isn’t always laden with gold.

Get unlucky with the draw and you could find yourself knocked out before a ball has even been kicked domestically – and with earnings that would barely buy you that size-five piece of leather.

That’s when you have to ask, was it really worth it? Were the celebrations of squeezing into the European spots actually the best part before reality arrived? Is the whole thing a bit of a false economy?

Look at our three European participants outside the Old Firm last season – Hibs, Aberdeen and St Johnstone.

Every one of them punted out of Europe before the group stage. But the real cost was felt domestically as all three failed miserably to come anywhere near the levels set the previous season to get into Europe in the first place.

Callum Davidson admitted it himself after reflecting on a season which started with the thrill of Euro qualifying draws away to the mighty Galatasaray and LASK and home ties that brought in record home attendances.

Close but no groupstage cigar for the Saints and Davidson conceded only last week that: “Europe caused us more problems than we expected”. He explained: “That month of playing Thursday and Sunday took a real toll on the players. That contributed to the injuries we had last season and a squad of our size wasn’t able to cope with it.”

The cup double heroes were out on their feet early, lost key men to injury and even more important figures left on the summer transfer window’s last day.

That’s where Motherwell, and Dundee United who enter the competition in the third qualifying round a week later, need to be savvy in the transfer market.

They need to bolster their squads to be able to cope with the potentially draining schedule and give themselves the best chance of qualifying for the megabucks stage,

No luck in draw could mean exit before ball is even kicked on home front

while at the same time not overspending in case it blows up in their face on foreign soil.

Graham Alexander will be well aware of the dangers lurking in the draw even though Well are seeded tomorrow. They could still pull out a real stinker in the shape of Swedish runners-up AIK, or a trip to Turkey or Cyprus to face Konyaspor or Limassol.

Those ties will be played on July 21 and 28 – three days before the Premiership kicks off.

Fingers crossed Well get the luck of the draw in Nyon tomorrow.

Then they can head off to Austria for their pre-season camp with a real sense that their next trip overseas might just be worth it.