Johansson on huge night, injury troubles & cup exit backlash

Manager Alfred Johansson has been speaking to the media before Motherwell host Freiburg in the first leg of their Conference League play-off on Thursday. Here are the key lines: Johansson and his squad are excited for another "huge" night at "buzzing" Fir Park which is set for a sellout. Motherwell's players will feed off the atmosphere: "That's the energy that transmits down to us in the pitch and in the dugout. It's massive and just a pure joy to be involved in." On what his players have learned in this season's European campaign so far, Johansson says: "They've realised how good they are and that, yeah, I can do this. That's a very important feeling in terms of self-confidence, motivation. I think they've also seen it as a huge opportunity to become better." His tactical approach to this game isn't "black and white" because Motherwell can't expect to dominate the ball against such a good team, but won't "park the bus". The latest additions to a lengthy casualty list, Oscar Priestman and Johnny Koutroumbis - who suffered a freak hand injury by getting his thumb stuck in his shirt - will both be out for at least four weeks. Johansson defends his decision to make eight changes for the League Cup exit to Stenhousemuir last weekend, saying it was a bid to ease the "vicious cycle" over overuse injuries amid a hectic schedule of playing every three to four days. He adds: "Just some of the numbers we did is 12 games in 44 days, so that paints you the picture a little bit. And if I didn't let Martin Moormann have a rest, if I didn't let Lukas Fadinger have a rest, then maybe we were here speaking about them not being able to play the next two months. We have a lot of tracking, we have a lot of monitoring of load, we have a lot of data. And in the end, we're left with some decisions and priorities." The Well boss doesn't "buy at all" suggestions the team he fielded wasn't good enough or experienced enough to beat Stenny. Johansson expects new signing Seb Palmer-Houlden to have international clearance in time to be available on Thursday and backs him to be a "really important striker for Motherwell". He adds: "Sometimes you have to wait a little bit to get the right one. I'm super happy that we ended up with Seb on a permanent, because he is a young, exciting striker that has a lot of attributes that you're looking for in a number nine."