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Alfred Johansson reckons Motherwell 'turned up the heat' in Conference League

· Scott Burns · 2026-08-07 · nguồn gốc

Alfred Johansson reckons Motherwell 'turned up the heat' in Conference League as he delivers confident HJK verdict The Steelmen drew 1-1 against HJK and if they can win at home they will go through Alfred Johansson is confident a sold-out Fir Park can help Motherwell extend their Conference League adventure. The Steelmen showed their strength by coming back from Helsinki with an away draw against HJK. They know a home win next Thursday would get them through and set-up a glamour play-off round clash with Germans Freiburg. Johnasson said: “Yes, absolutely. So that's definitely what we'll try to do next week. “I mean, obviously, home advantage is always a thing. “I’m not going to sit here and talk about it when we play away from home and then neglect it when we come home. “So obviously it's there.” Motherwell went ahead through a Tawanda Maswanhise penalty, before Teemu Pukki came off the bench to level. Johansson thought on reflection it was a fair result. Johansson confirmed: “I can't say I'm disappointed, that would be the wrong word. “I think we played a good performance today. I’m very, very proud of the players. “That was impressive, to be honest, from where I'm sat. I think we dug deep. “I think the young players that came on in the second half, they impacted the game like we were asking them to do. “I think we played parts of the game at a high level. Second half, long periods were really good. “Unfortunately, one situation where we conceded the goal. “We have one guy down and it's a very experienced number nine they have and it can happen. So I'm proud of the performance and I think we have done a good job here tonight.” Motherwell dominated the first half possession but HJK had all the chances. Motherwell upped their game and looked far more threatening in the second period. The Motherwell manager, who will take on Falkirk, admitted: “I think the players started to be even more brave in their decision making. “I think we were breaking lines on the ground a little bit better. “So it's mainly the players who decided to say, no, okay, let's play. “Let's do our thing and we were also, the guys who were also more aggressive in the pressure in the second half, which allows you then to recover a couple of balls higher up the pitch, which then maybe gives you two minutes here, three minutes there with possession on their half. “It makes you feel more confident on the ball as well. “I think the players, they just turned up the heat a little bit and that was good to see.” Motherwell were roared on by a sellout away crowd. Johansson claimed their fans helped them get over the line. He insisted: "(They were) Amazing. "They did it in the Faroes and now there are even more people here in Helsinki. "Just being able to have that support. "I mean, Fir Park is not the stadium in Scotland with the biggest attendance, the biggest amount of seats, but still to have that many people from Motherwell coming to Helsinki. "It's massive for a club like Motherwell and it's massive for us in the dugout. "It's absolutely massive for the players on the pitch, the energy that they transmit to all of us. "I think it's really difficult to measure that." HJK boss Joonas Rantanen felt his team should have won. He knows his team can’t go to Scotland to defend. He said: “We lost the ball and gave away the penalty and it was great we came back with a terrific goal from Teemu. “Over the last ten minutes I felt we should have got more. Motherwell seemed satisfied with the 1-1. Overall quite satisfied. “I think it will be different there. We need to be brave with the ball and keep the ball. “They’ll press us with more players. If we can beat that press we have a good chance to create something. “If we go to park the bus or with a low block and hope to get counter-attacks, we’re not going to make it.”