"There are a lot of similarities," Oscar Priestman said of new Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson compared with predecessor Jens Berthel Askou. "He obviously stamps his own authority in terms of playing. There are little tactical tweaks in how he runs his sessions."
"You can see they have similar philosophies as managers. It has been really enjoyable, the way the new manager works and conducts himself," added Priestman. "I really enjoy it. It is my second year in this system and it is really fun to stay it. The responsibility is what I want personally. I just want to embrace that. All eyes are looking forward to Sunday now."
Motherwell are much-changed, but Priestman does not think Johansson will move too far from the successful ways of his Danish predecessor.
Ramping up for Hibs and HJK
Johansson has made a 100% start after two Conference League wins over Havnar Boltfelag. Motherwell now kick off their Premiership campaign at Hibs on Sunday before travelling to Finland to face HJK in Europe next week.
Priestman, the former Western Sydney Wanderers man, said of the schedule: "There will be a lot of recovery. We will get ready for Hibs. We need to do the right things and to recover very well. It will be fun. You want to play games. It will be new. In Australia, you don't have the schedule you have in Europe. Every footballer wants to play in as many as games as possible. We have to recover, make sure we do the right things and then have to get out on the pitch."
Aggregate win over HB
Priestman was delighted with the 5-0 aggregate victory over HB. "I wouldn't say it was straight-forward. They had a lot of chances and on another night they could have potentially got a goal or two. It was pleasing how we got that early goal. It was a very professional performance from then on. It had its challenges, but I am really pleased. It is massive to come to the Faroes, pick up a win and keep a clean sheet. Not many teams have done that. We have started really well and it will obviously be a tougher challenge against Hibs on Sunday. We are looking forward to that."
HJK beat Coleraine 3-0 away to progress 8-0 on aggregate. Priestman knows both teams will go into next Thursday's Helsinki clash full of confidence. The Australian under-23 cap added: "Absolutely, we haven't looked into them. We can bring a lot of confidence from these two games. When we play at our best we are a really tough team to stop. We will go there with a lot of confidence and I hope we can get a result over two legs."
New-look Motherwell
Motherwell's playing staff has changed quite a bit. Elijah Just, Elliot Watt and Callum Ward have all gone for big fees, while Callum Slattery and Stephen Welsh have moved on. Johansson has started his own rebuild with the signings of Martin Moormann, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Dylan Williams, Willy Vogt, Alex Paulsen and Alex Lowry, who is in line to make his debut at Easter Road.
Priestman and Lukas Fadinger have been the constants in the Motherwell engine room. "It is important. You need some continuity. I think Lukas and myself have played together and have that relationship. All the new boys have come in and integrated really well. We are all gelling well."
