Mark Reynolds: French side Nancy will dread taking Motherwell on

Sep 14 2008 By Scott Mcdermott

MOTHERWELL kid Mark Reynolds insists French cracks Nancy will be shocked by the quality of Mark McGhee's side.

The Fir Park defender is convinced their French opponents will dismiss the Steelmen as long-ball merchants before their UEFA Cup first-round tie on Thursday night.

But the 21-year-old defender revealed how most of Well's signings from England thought the same way before they arrived in Lanarkshire.

McGhee has Reynolds and Co. playing an attractive brand of football that took them to third in the SPL last season and a spot in Europe.

The Scotland Under-21 star believes Well's flair and style will be perfect against Nancy - and help them progress into the lucrative group stages.

Mark said: "Our passing style is well suited to Europe. A couple of guys who came up from England in the summer were pleasantly surprised at how we try and play the game.

"They were maybe expecting us to be a long ball, physical team - but that's not the case.

"The manager will encourage us to get the ball down, play and hopefully catch Nancy by surprise.

"They might not expect us to be quite as good footballers as we are.

"They might underestimate us as we're a Scottish team they've maybe not heard of before. Being underdogs could give us an advantage.

"Hopefully we can go over there and get the result to set us up to go to the next stage."

Just three years ago Reynolds was in Well's reserve side, unsure whether he'd ever make the grade.

Now he's a key part of McGhee's setup and has already been subject of a s1million bid from Rangers.

It's been an amazing turnaround for the young centre-back, who can hardly take-in Well's rapid domestic progress and their return to Europe.

He said: "It's a new experience for everyone and hopefully something we'll go and enjoy.

"If you'd said I would be playing in Europe with Well a couple of years ago no-one would have believed it.

"It just shows how far the club has come. It's great for us and the fans that our efforts last year are being rewarded with a wee trip to Europe.

"It's a strange old game. People said going to Rangers would have been a great careermove - but they're not in Europe and Motherwell are.

"Aberdeen reached the group stages last season and we all saw what a new dimension it adds to the season.

"If we can win this one tie we are guaranteed another four games at least.

"It would be an amazing experience.

We would all benefit from the experience of playing at that level.

"But we wouldn't just be making up numbers. Even if we had drawn Valencia we would still have wanted to win the tie. You need to go in to each match expecting to win.

"If we can get through we'll land one of the bigger teams, a real glamour tie. That would be great for the fans and all the boys involved.

"We could be playing against some of the best in the world.

"We've a fighting chance of going through. You don't get to this stage of the cup if you're not a quality team.

"Nancy are a decent side. They were second in the league going into the last few games of the season but ended up third. We know they'll be good.

"But before the draw, Nancy were one side we would have fancied so I don't think we can complain."