Motherwell boss Mark McGhee admits he's excited about making his European coaching debut this week. In his column for the Sunday Herald, McGhee wrote: "Motherwell's match against French side Nancy will be my first as a manager in European competition. I cant wait. When the draw was made I thought 'not bad' as far as the opponent was concerned but I thought 'brilliant' when we were drawn away first.

"Having the home advantage in the second leg can be vital in these two-legged affairs. Our objective on Thursday is to make sure that we are still in the tie after the first leg.

"We have studied the style of our French opponents carefully. My assistant Scott Leitch went over last week and watched them. We have also studied DVDs and I have spoken with everyone I know who I thought could give us any insight whatsoever into the team from north-east France.

"It seems that they have not started the season too well. We may be playing them at the right time."