Craig Reid is determined Motherwell will not be unwilling spectators to one of Icelandic side Stjarnan's famous goal celebrations when they welcome them to Fir Park on Thursday. Celebrations including reeling a player in like a fish and pretending to give birth to the ball have become huge 'YouTube' hits and made Stjarnan into cult favourites. Back-to-back 4-0 wins over Welsh side Bangor City set up a Europa League second qualifying round clash with the Steelmen, meaning Scottish fans could get a first-hand look at one of their routines at Fir Park on Thursday - but not if Reid has his way.
He said: "I've watched their goal celebrations on YouTube, but hopefully they won't be doing any of that against us. But Stjarnan are second in the Icelandic league and unbeaten this year. They've had two good results against Bangor City in the previous round and they'll give us a hard game. They're well into their season already so they'll be fit and sharp. Hopefully we can match them as we know people expect us to win this tie."
Reid has previous experience of European football with Queen of the South in 2008, in the competition's predecessor the UEFA Cup, which ended quickly with defeat to Danish side Nordsjaelland. His goal against Aberdeen on the last day of the Scottish Premiership season earned the Steelmen second place in the table and a European place of their own. He said: "With Queens it was just about enjoying it, no one expected us to win as it was the club's first game in Europe, but with Motherwell people rightly see us as favourites. Queens were unlucky against Nordsjaelland. Over there we were up 1-0 and had chances to make it 2-0 which would have taken us through. We threw men forward and lost two late goals. It could have been a lot different and hopefully I'm on the winning side in Europe this time."