Debutant Jardell Kanga's incredible last-minute goal rescued a Scottish Premiership point for Motherwell in a six-goal thriller against St Mirren.
Read the full match report here
Have your say on the game via this link
Image source, SNSMotherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "The start to the game was brilliant for us, I thought we looked really fast and complex.
"We played really well and created chances in different ways. Then we conceded three goals in nine minutes and go into half-time thinking about what the plan is for the second half. The second half was very open.
"I want to praise the team for how we dug really deep. Strength in mentality and spirit once again but I'm not satisfied with how we ended the first half.
"A brilliant goal. When we scouted him he scored a similar one in Finland. I've seen him since he was very young and knew he was a brilliant finisher so really pleased he gets to show that in his first game.
"We have to learn from this game that we can never stop. You can score all the chances you have, the penalty, but I'm more concerned with the problems in the first half rather than the chances. I don't think we controlled the momentum in the way that we want to [in the first half]. That is probably the learning we have to take.
"Alex Pauslen was amazing today. Without him there is no point for Motherwell today. It is allowed to have a good goalkeeper and we sure do."
Image source, SNSCalvin Ramsay comes into contention after signing for St Mirren on loan from Liverpool. Liam Donnelly had a scan on an abductor injury which will probably keep him out until the international break, while Malik Dijksteel (hamstring) had a setback. On-loan Rangers midfielder Paul Nsio returns after missing the defeat at Ibrox.
Motherwell have Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Dylan Williams and Tom Sparrow back which leaves Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry (both knee) and Jordan McGhee (hamstring) on the injury list.
St Mirren are winless in eight Scottish Premiership games against Motherwell (losing four of them) since a 1-0 victory in September 2023.
Motherwell have won their past two league meetings with St Mirren, last winning three in a row against the Buddies in April 2015.
St Mirren have won both of their two Premiership games in 2026-27 but have not won three in a row at any stage in the division since December 2024.
Motherwell have won their past two away league outings, including their first this season 2-1 against Hibernian. The Steelmen last won three in a row on the road in April 2024.
Midfielder Killian Phillips has scored in three successive Premiership appearances (four goals), including three goals in two games so far this season. The last St Mirren player to score in four consecutive top-flight appearances was Andy Dorman in April 2009.
Image source, GettyMotherwell have paid an undisclosed fee to land highly rated Sweden Under-21 forward Jardell Kanga from Finnish top-flight club Ilves.
Kanga, 20, has signed a three-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
He became Brommapojkarna's youngest-ever player in 2021 when making his first-team debut aged 15 in Sweden's third tier.
Kanga joined Bayer Leverkusen the following year, featuring for their youth sides, and had a loan spell at De Graafschap before a permanent move to Hammarby in his homeland two years ago.
A switch to Ilves, initially on loan, followed in April 2025 and he made 68 appearances for the Finnish club, scoring 18 goals and providing 16 assists.
"Jardell is a player I have followed closely for a number of years," said Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson.
"When Jardell was playing youth football, there were a number of occasions I tried to bring him into my team, but circumstances meant this didn't happen. I have admired his ability for years and I'm so pleased I'll finally be able to work with him.
"He arrives in Scotland with a lot of attention for what he has achieved already in football, but I know in our environment we can help him develop and grow further."
Kanga says his Fir Park move "makes a lot of sense for me", adding: "The style of play is perfect, the group of players are friendly and talented, and the club is ambitious."
Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, SNSMidfielder Joe Hodge has urged Motherwell to "get rid of that losing feeling" after their European campaign was halted by Freiburg in the Conference League play-off.
Motherwell lost 7-2 on aggregate after being reduced to 10 men in both games.
"We've lost two on the bounce now", Hodge, 23, said.
"As much as it's against good opposition that's tested us, we've got to bounce back and we need to win on Sunday really, so we'll be looking to do that.
"I'm sure if we put in our best performance and play to our level, then we'll be able to do that."
Before facing St Mirren in Paisley on Sunday, Hodge admits he'll be "sore" after the Freiburg defeat but says he'll move on quickly due to the manner of the loss.
"We were well beaten, so it'll be easy to accept, but in general, no, I don't like losing," he added.
"We've got three games now, all three winnable games, so we need to go and try and get nine points."
After St Mirren away, Motherwell have a midweek home game against Dundee United before a trip to Rangers.
As well as eyeing league points, Hodge is also hoping the side can get back to playing the style of football they've become renowned for.
"We struggled across the two legs to play how we wanted for 90 minutes," he added.
"So we'll be looking to go and show that more in the next three games. We've just got to bounce back, not get too low from it, and go and try and get as many points as we can."
Image source, SNSWe asked for your views after 10-man Motherwell lost 4-1 in Germany to bow out of Europe 7-2 on aggregate to Freiburg in the Conference League play-off.
Here's what some of you said:
Robert: It's absolutely no disgrace to lose to a team like Freiburg. The boys gave everything and to score home and away shows the team that they're capable of good things in the future. If they can start defending swinging free-kicks and corners, major bonus! All in all well done boys, let's get stuck into this league now.
James: We are a team in progress and they are making it with every game. I look forward to the future, we are a very good team and will get better. My only problem is we lack height in defence, four goals in these two games all from corners.
Frazer: Held our own against a very good Freiburg team and hoping this will put us in good stead for the season. The only frustration was five of the seven goals we conceded were from pens or set-plays.
John: What if we hadn't received a red card in each leg with the scores at 1-1? Hopefully our youthful defenders will learn from the experience and become stronger, better players. Well done Motherwell and our fans, lots to be proud of.
Ian: It's okay saying Freiburg were Europa Finalists and Motherwell were "brave" but these are sounding like weak excuses for a team that were bereft of ideas. Again - for the third game in a row - the passing was poor, the inability to clear the ball from our own box gave us real problems and we looked like a team that had no confidence when pressing. It was embarrassing. I've got the feeling Alfred Johansson does not have the same presence as Jens Berthel Askou.
Dave: Over the two legs, four headed goals from set-pieces and a penalty - a worry going forward against taller teams. Work for the staff to do, other than that, no disgrace against a good German side.
Image source, SNSMotherwell Manager Alfred Johansson tells BBC Scotland: "I think we competed really, really well for 60 minutes and after that obviously it becomes much more difficult.
"Once again and there it's about trying to protect as much as you can. Could we have done that a little bit better? Maybe in some decisive actions in our own box but I think the guys they tried everything that they had so all in all it was good for 60 minutes and then it was tough.
"Congratulations to Freiburg, they were the better team over the two legs and congratulations to my players because I think they've done really, really well.
"I don't know if it's a sore night. I bring so much good stuff from this game going forward. I think it was tough at the end that's for sure.
"Alex Paulsen's performance is really, really strong and I can point many others. I think Alex Lowry was really, really strong once again today. I think Joe Hodge, the amount of sprint metres he put in for the team defensively was impressive.
"I think Jamie Knight-Lebel has been growing a lot during those two games, both defensively but also on the ball. So I could mention many others."
Motherwell's Conference League journey is over after a rampant Freiburg side overwhelmed them 4-1 in Germany in their play-off second leg.
Trailing last season's Europa League finalists 3-1 on aggregate, Alfred Johansson's men had an almighty task to qualify for the league phase, after coming through two rounds of qualifiers to reach this stage.
Read the match report here.
Have your say on the game here.
Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, SNSDefender Jamie Knight-Lebel thinks the Motherwell squad are "well equipped for the challenge" of trying to stage a remarkable comeback against Freiburg, but knows the scale of the task that awaits.
Alfred Johansson's side trail 3-1 on aggregate in their Conference League play-off, before tonight's return leg in Germany.
The Steelmen took the lead at Fir Park, before the German giants' quality told. Still, Knight-Lebel is ready to give it his all.
"It's a hard task, but we've been working hard and we know what our strengths are, what we can work on," he said.
"We've got a real good group that want to learn, take on the manager's information and focus on the small details.
"We're definitely in the right environment to take on these challenges. You could see last week, there were some really good moments in the game and we've obviously had a week to train, so we've got better.
"We'll be ready to give it our best shot."
The 21-year-old is on loan at Motherwell from English Championship side Bristol City, and despite three Canada caps, he says playing on the European stage is a "massive and new experience" for him.
"It is a bit of a surreal moment for me, being my first season in Europe," Knight-Lebel said.
"It's amazing. We're ready for the challenge and I'm confident that we've got the right people around me to introduce myself to this competition."
Jane Lewis
BBC Scotland in Germany
Image source, SNSMotherwell manager Alfred Johansson has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Conference League play-off second leg with Freiburg in Germany, with the hosts leading 3-1.
Here are the key points:
On the mindset going into this game given Motherwell trail by two goals, Johansson says they will try to "do our best to perform with our style of play at the top of our mind" and "to do as good as we can".
The manager's message this week has been "we're going to try to do our thing", adding when they do that "they're at their best".
Johansson admits he has "learned things" from the first leg and will try "to improve some bits and pieces".
Motherwell can use Celtic's Champions League play-off defeat and a "million" similar stories as inspiration, but Johansson thinks "we're better off focusing on what we have to do".
The players "believe we have a lot of quality and we believe that we have the capacity to do well".
Johansson says Motherwell's weekend off could be beneficial and it was "much needed" while he is not overly worried by Freiburg's convincing win in their weekend cup match.
Regan Charles-Cook, Stephen O'Donnell, Tom Sparrow, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Dylan Williams have travelled and are in contention, though the Swede says they all have to be "managed".
Image source, SNSMotherwell have issued a plea over supporter behaviour after revealing fan-related incidents have cost the club almost £80,000 this season.
The Fir Park side are to pay £63,000 to repair HJK Helsinki's LED advertising boards, which were damaged when some visiting fans climbed over them to enter the pitch in the Conference League third-round qualifier.
That incident also brought a £12,800 fine from Uefa, who had earlier imposed a £3,400 sanction for the blocking of passageways in the John Hunter Stand at Fir Park against Havnar Boltfelag.
As Motherwell prepare for their play-off second leg against Freiburg in Germany on Thursday, the club said: "We are not targeting a specific group of supporters or anyone in particular for these matters, but if you know you jumped over the barrier, or even worse, entered the field of play, you know who you are.
"And we're asking you to please restrain yourself should another celebratory moment arise. This moment created a lot of uncertainty, and the safety of the fans was compromised, as anyone could have been injured.
"Last week during our home match at Fir Park against Freiburg, despite our calls for everyone to remain in the stands, Uefa flagged supporters jumping over the wall from the John Hunter Stand.
"Even one supporter entering the field of play is regarded by Uefa as a pitch incursion, and this is subject to an ongoing disciplinary decision. A second offence results in a minimum penalty of a further €24,000.
"We fully appreciate how big these moments are, and we can all get a bit carried away. But such behaviour is taking things too far, and it's causing a financial strain on the football club, as well as the further risk of harsher punishments growing."
Jenna Thomson
Fan writer
Scoring against the Europa League finalists a couple of minutes into the game was wonderfully unexpected.
From the first minute Fir Park was twisting, shouting and singing. It would have been easy to take a page out of Steve Clarke's book and park the bus against Freiburg.
Thankfully, we didn't. We showed no fear and we put on a noble show. Our display brings more than just pride to the fans; it brings pride to the town and Scottish football as a whole.
We may not have won but to be defeated after a questionable red card, I can live with that when you consider the calibre of team we were playing against.
I had no hope of us winning and was blase about the result as long as it didn't become a cricket score.
There is no way we will keep a clean sheet in Thursday's second leg but it is still a trip to savour for the players and the fans.
I have never been prouder than in the past 12 months to say I am a 'Well fan. Jens Berthel Askou started it all, but it is Alfred Johansson now creating fresh memories.
Motherwell have agreed a £350,000 fee with Finnish club Ives for 20-year-old midfielder Jardell Kanga, while substantial add-ons could take the price as high as £900,000. (Daily Record, external)
Image source, Getty ImagesFreiburg warmed up for Thursday's Conference League play-off second leg against Motherwell with a comprehensive German Cup victory over Dusseldorf.
Last season's Europa League finalists won 3-1 at Fir Park last week and built on that result as they put five past their cup hosts, with head coach Julian Schuster making five changes to the side that started against the Steelmen.
Lucas Holer gave Freiburg the lead on 18 minutes before two goals in four second-half minutes from Igor Matanovic and Lukas Kubler put them in total control.
Dusseldorf pulled one back through Fabian Schleusener, but Jordy Makengo and Matanovic added further gloss to the scoreline for Freiburg late on.
Motherwell did not play over the weekend, with their scheduled Premiership match against Aberdeen suspended to allow them further time to prepare for the second leg.
Image source, SNSMotherwell manager Alfred Johansson wants his players to take learnings from their Conference League play-off against Freiburg.
Johansson's side scored inside 90 seconds in Thursday's first leg at Fir Park before falling to a 3-1 defeat.
It leaves Motherwell with a sizeable task in Germany next week, but after aggregate wins against Torshavn and HJK, Johansson believes their European campaign has been a productive one.
"They can learn so much because when you train something, whatever it is, and then at some point you face a new level, you have to do everything a little bit better," he said.
"Whether you play the guitar or chess or football, you have to do everything just a little bit better. You need to think a little bit faster, you need to decide faster, you need to execute technically with more quality, you need to move faster.
"And when you put the body into that, you will adapt. And that intensity and that level of difficulty and all of the actions that the players have done, if you go out and you do nothing and you just don't evolve yourself, you learn nothing.
"But if you go on and you try to do what we did, then that intensity and quality and everything, it sticks in your body, in your nervous system, and it's going to stay there.
"As long as you realise that that's how it works, then you will keep it and we will profit from it in the coming months, 100 per cent."
Motherwell revealed before the game they had been fined more than €20,000 so far in their European campaign.
Uefa has now issued some of the decisions relating to those fines. Motherwell were fined €4,000 (about £3,425) over blocked passageways in their home leg against HB and €15,000 (about £12,850) following a pitch invasion after they took the lead in Helsinki.
We asked for your views after 10-man Motherwell lost 3-1 at home to Freiburg in the Conference League play-off first leg.
Here are some of your comments:
Matt: Nights like this are so rare for a club like Motherwell. And the team didn't let us down. Well done to everyone involved. To take the Europa League finalists all the way is an incredible achievement. Pretty soft penalty and ridiculous red card killed the game. But to play with 10 men for half an hour and only concede with the last kick of the ball, there's a reason they're the pride of Lanarkshire.
Alan: This was always going to be a tall order against last year's Europa League finalists. A wonderful start which must have rocked the German team. We could not have asked for more! Maybe the next game will free us up to play our expansive style in Germany and continue the development of this squad with their exciting approach to football.
Jim: Best team won but the referee was shocking, not booking a number of the Germans for holding and diving. Still thought Motherwell did okay with a much depleted squad.
Craig: Cant really grumble after the game to be honest when you look at the vast difference in team stats/value. Super proud of the team. One of Europe's best playing at Fir Park, such a great atmosphere.
James: A great effort from the team but the penalty and red card changes everything. Next game will be really hard to watch but we can't give up.
Iain: Great performance. Red card was tough to take, after a soft penalty. But we didn't roll over. We'll go to Germany with some swagger and see what happens.
Ten-man Motherwell gave last season's Europa League runners-up Freiburg a real fright at Fir Park before the Bundesliga side ultimately won by a two-goal margin in this Conference League play-off tie.
Read the match report here.
Have your say on the game here.
