Morris will not allow another dismal debut to knock him off his stride in Euro mission
ON the wrong end of a 7-1 scoreline on his first professional appearance at Old Trafford, Josh Morris is no stranger to a chastening debut.
Having forged a useful career since that teenage start for Blackburn Rovers, the 30-yearold won’t allow his maiden outing for Motherwell to drag him down.
Not that he plays down the significance of Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to Sligo Rovers — or the importance of making amends in Ireland this week.
While he may have been guilty of taking the trappings of Premier League life for granted back in the day, he regards European football as a privilege and something worth fighting for.
‘When you are younger, you tend to think that something like that happens all the time,’ he admits. ‘You learn over time I guess. My time at Blackburn was great. I found myself playing alongside the likes of Michel Salgado, Morten Gamst
Pedersen, David Dunn, Paul Robinson, Roque Santa Cruz.
‘Salgado had won the Champions League and I could talk for hours about him.
‘You didn’t really talk, you just watched what they were doing, how they trained, what they did to look after themselves.
‘It was a great learning curve. I was only 18, 19. It was pretty surreal. One minute you are watching these guys play on TV and the next you are alongside them in the team.
‘I made my debut under Sam Allardyce against Manchester United and we were 5-0 down when I came on. (Dimitar) Berbatov scored five goals and we ended up losing the game 7-1.
‘I played a week later and then the week after that Sam got sacked...’
No one would suggest that Graham Alexander is facing a similar fate after guiding the team into Europe in his first full season at Motherwell.
Nevertheless, the boos that rang out around Fir Park at the end of the Europa Conference League first leg will be a cause for concern.
The manager’s dubious claim that his team had done ‘more than enough’ to beat the Irish side won’t have swayed the minds of an impressive crowd of over 7,000. However, they will have drawn some comfort from what they saw from Morris. The new signing was comfortably the Steelmen’s best player on the night and it was telling that, as they chased an equaliser, it was to Morris that they looked to provide some invention.
Signed just a couple of weeks ago after the termination of his contract at Salford, the 30-year-old promises to add quality in the final third, specifically via his well practised left foot.
A long-standing bond with Alexander should also help him settle.
‘I wanted to try something new and obviously I knew the manager really well,’ he says of his decision to move north.
‘I have worked with him three separate times and I think I’ve played some of the best football of my career, so that was a big thing for me.
‘I also know Kevin van Veen from Scunthorpe and he couldn’t speak highly enough of the club and how much you’re made to feel welcome. I’ve only been here a week but I’ve certainly found that to be the case.
‘It’s a fresh start, a fresh challenge and I have the chance to play in Europe. It’s only halfway in the tie and while it wasn’t the result we were looking for, it’s still all to play for.’
Morris played 22 times for Blackburn and was also capped by England at Under-20s before embarking on a winding career that saw him cross paths with Alexander at Fleetwood Town, Scunthorpe and finally Salford.
No longer the starry-eyed kid with sky-high dreams, he has vowed to provide a guiding hand to the younger players around him.
He added: ‘You try and pass on your experience, remember what it was like when you were young, coming through.
‘There’s a good blend in the squad, but of course it’s up to the older lads to try and help the younger ones.’