Motherwell star hopeful of European return after battle and shirt swap with former Manchester United star

Motherwell midfielder Ross Tierney has Shinji Kagawa's shirt as a memento from his last Europa Conference League trip - and it has wet the appetite for another.

Despite a run of one win in 15 Premiership matches, the Steelmen head into today's match with Ross County sixth and one point off the Staggies in fifth.

The league's top five will play European football this summer, just like Tierney did with League of Ireland side Bohemian last year, who he joined Motherwell from in January.

In that run they came up against Icelandic club and 'Well's 2014 Europa League opponents Stjarnan, Luxembourg's F91 Dudelange and Greek side PAOK at the third qualifying round.

In that tie which Bohs eventually lost 3-2 on aggregate, Tierney came face-to-face with former Manchester United playmaker Kagawa.

He got his shirt post-match and getting to face such talent again is something that excites the 21-year-old as his new club look to reach UEFA's latest competition.

The attack-minded midfielder said: "Results haven't gone our way recently but we are still only a point off a European spot. We know if we get the results we want, we can crack on with where we want to get to.

"I played in the Conference League last year. The European nights we got to play in the national stadium which was good.

"We got to play against top professionals against PAOK. We could see the difference. We beat them at home and then got beat in Greece, the heat over there was unbelievable!

"I got Shinji Kagawa's jersey and he was a lovely lad. They were full of internationals but we gave them a good game. Now I'm fully focused on Motherwell."

Tierney has got to grips with the Scottish game and a busy summer awaits him after jumping straight from the 2021 League of