HUGHES FEARS WELL BACKLASH

Hughes - 'very, very guarded'.

Falkirk manager John Hughes fears his side could suffer the fall-out from Motherwell's disappointing exit from the UEFA Cup.

Hughes takes his side to Fir Park on Sunday looking to build on the morale-boosting 4-1 win over SPL newcomers Hamilton last weekend that lifted the Bairns off the foot of the table.

However, after watching Motherwell fail in their bid to reach the UEFA Cup group stages against Nancy on Thursday night, Hughes has warned his players to be on their guard against the Steelmen.

He said: "I was so desperate for them to get through to the group stages of the UEFA Cup and for them to have done that would have been a remarkable achievement.

"But what they have done so far has been remarkable. The job Mark McGhee and Scott Leitch are doing over there is fantastic.

"They have some nice football players, playing the game in the right manner, and rightly so they finished third last year and deserved their European spot.

"It would have been a great experience for them, although they will have been disappointed that the French team didn't have to work for their goals. The game sort of fizzled out after the goals and I felt for them, even though they kept going.

"We might get the backlash of that because they will want to get themselves back on the road.

"So, we'll have to be very, very guarded. It's always a very difficult place to go but we should be going there confident and hopefully we can take something from the match."

Two first-half goals killed off Motherwell's dreams of following in Aberdeen's footsteps and advancing to the high-profile group stages of the lucrative UEFA Cup.

However, Hughes - who tasted European football as a player during his spell with Celtic - is adamant Mark McGhee's men will not be wallowing in self-pity following the 3-0 aggregate defeat.

He added: "I don't think Motherwell will be feeling sorry for themselves because that is a great stage to go and play your football on.

"Albeit the defeat would have been disappointing for them, playing on that stage would have given them a lift.

"I was lucky enough to play with Celtic in Europe and you get a real buzz off playing in midweek in Europe.

"You can look back on the achievement of getting there, first and foremost, and I think that's what the Motherwell players will do."