'We’ve got a shot at it': Derek McInnes excited for Kilmarnock’s Euro challenge

Derek McInnes has issued a rallying cry to his Kilmarnock squad ahead of their European showdown with Copenhagen with a £5million windfall up for grabs.

Killie travel to Denmark on Thursday night as huge underdogs and McInnes understandably prioritised their European adventure as he rested key players as they crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup at Motherwell.

McInnes made nine changes from the stunning win against Tromso in midweek and Killie were punished by Stuart Findlay’s red card as Moses Ebiye headed Motherwell into the quarter-finals in extra-time.

Preparations for facing Copenhagen were far from ideal as Kilmarnock looked visibly tired as they played 70 minutes with 10 men after Findlay’s dismissal but McInnes insists it is now all eyes on the financial prize of bringing European group-stage football to Rugby Park.

McInnes said: “I’ve not discussed Copenhagen with my staff yet but we’ll get our teeth into that now and be able to impart a lot of it to the players from Tuesday onwards.

“It’s exciting for us to be going to Copenhagen as a club. For us to dig out a result that we did in Norway and then do the same in Denmark, it’s a big ask for a club like Kilmarnock with the resources we’ve got.

“But we are determined to make the best fist of it as possible. It’s an opportunity to get around £5million for the club. That’s way more prize money than we can ever get from winning a cup in Scotland or anything else.

“We’ve got a shot at it, we’ve earned the right and we look forward to the challenge. Hopefully we can go to Copenhagen and deliver a performance I know we are capable of.”

While Kilmarnock’s focus is on European football, Motherwell are dreaming of cup glory and they will face Dundee United at Fir Park in the quarter-finals.

The Steelemen fully deserved their victory and Tawanda Maswanhise played a pivotal role on debut.

The 21-year-old only signed hours before kick-off after impressing on trial after leaving Leicester but he brought pace and trickery to Motherwell’s attacking play and Kettlewell believes he will be an exciting addition.

“You can see what he’s going to bring us,” Kettlewell said.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for him, the opportunity came up within a few hours to be involved in a bounce game.

“I loved his character and personality to thrust himself in and he saw that as an opportunity. We’ve had him in since the start of last week and he’s shown up well in training sessions and another bounce game.

“He brings us a dimension that we don’t quite have with his ball carrying ability and hopefully he adds that final ball. Hopefully he’s exciting for the Motherwell fans because he’s really embraced coming here and he excites me.”