Twardzik fearless ahead of Stjarnan tie
DAN TWARDZIK believes it’s no tall order for Motherwell to progress in the Europa League.
The Steelmen travel to Iceland on Thursday with their qualifier against Stjarnan delicately balanced at 2-2.
There was little the goalkeeper could do as two penalties were slotted past him at Fir Park.
The part-timers from Reykjavík might now even now be favourites to progress because they have two vital away goals.
But Twardzik believes Well can prove the critics wrong in the same way that he has battled against managers prejudging him.
He said: “It’s hard for me to find a team and to find a manager that believes in me. That’s because I am not the tallest. That’s always been the issue why clubs said ‘no’ or maybe didn’t trust me much.
“I feel I showed last season when I came on loan to Motherwell from Dundee that I am capable of playing at this level, and I hope to show it again.
“At six feet tall I’m maybe not as tall as some other goalkeepers, but I think I can really compensate for my height with other things.”
Twardzik nearly joined Motherwell five years ago.
He went on: “I left Bayern Munich and expected to come over, show myself and sign a contract. But Bayern asked for compensation which was, at the time, usual for international transfers if a young boy was changing teams.
“They put a little stone in my way, but I am back and I am happy to be back. This is definitely my big chance in Scottish football.”
A European run would be a huge boost for the 23-year-old and his team.
He added:“The first game against Stjarnan could have been 6-6. It’s disappointing when you are 2-0 up and draw after two penalties, but they could have scored from normal situations as well.
“We knew their right winger puts decent crosses in, we could see them being dangerous and luckily for us nothing happened there. We will be prepared for that again.”