Europa League hat-trick hero Jamie Murphy was involved in the Europa League's biggest win so far but he knows his efforts will be forgotten if Motherwell lose to Icelandic side Breidablik. Murphy scored three goals in a record 8-1 win over Albanians Flamurtari last season. It is at ther same second qualifying stage that they begin their latest European adventure on Thursday. Murphy is on the verge of becoming Motherwell's sole top European goalscorer - he currently matches Stevie Kirk's four-goal haul from the 1990s. But all he is more focused on helping his side avoid upset when Well launch their competitive season at Fir Park. He wants to make sure the hat-trick from last season is not his last happy memory of European football. Murphy said: "It was special but if we don't get through this round this year I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten. The main aim is to win this game at home and not concede. Every striker wants to score so that's one of my goals as well."

Well suffered a shock in their European opener last season when they lost their home leg against Llanelli before Murphy was on target in Wales to help secure a 3-1 aggregate win. Breidablik have a distinct advantage in terms of competitive action, sitting top of the Icelandic league after 11 games. But Murphy is confident Craig Brown and Archie Knox's Motherwell are better prepared this year after friendly victories over Brechin, Forfar and Ayr United. The Scotland Under-21 international said: "We've had an extra two weeks this year because we're going in at the second round. We're definitely fitter, we only played one friendly before the game last year. The manager and Archie have been great, we've done a good pre-season in a short time. We had three games last week so the boys are feeling quite sharp. We had the ball out very early, usually it's running for the first week and no ball. I think it was the second or third day we got the ball out because the games are so early. We've got to get as many touches of the ball as we can."

Motherwell were less than convincing at Somerset Park on Saturday as goals in the final quarter from Ross Forbes and Bob McHugh earned them a 2-1 victory. But manager Brown had instructed his players to avoid injury and Murphy is sure they can step up a gear. He said: "It was maybe not our best performance on Saturday but we managed to get the win. If we play like that on Thursday, we probably won't do so well, so we need to give a good performance. We're going to do a bit of work on their team this week to see what they're all about, but we know that if we play to the best of our ability then we should win the game."