Djibril Cisse wary of Motherwell’s McFadden

Former Liverpool star Djibril Cisse (background) in training at Fir Park. Picture: SNS

The pair have previously faced each other in Merseyside derbies and will come face to face again in the first leg of the third qualifying round tonight.

Former Liverpool forward Cisse, who joined Kuban from QPR this summer, said: “He’s a really good player, a really talented player. He’s quite dangerous. I can’t say that I really know the team but we’re doing videos to get to know them better.”

Cisse is not certain to start given he joined Kuban midway through their pre-season campaign and an even more recent signing is head coach Dorinel Munteanu. The Romanian was only officially confirmed as Kuban’s head coach yesterday after they agreed a deal with his former club Mordovia Saransk.

Although he has been orchestrating matters behind the scenes during the first three games of the Russian season, the 45-year-old was relieved to face the media for the first time as the club’s manager.

Munteanu, who won 134 caps for Romania, said: “It was a period of uncertainty and it was quite hard when it wasn’t official. Finally it’s all solved and I’m happy that I can sit on the bench for the European game. It took some weight off my shoulders and I feel more confident. It’s good for the fans too because now we are all one team.”

Kuban have taken five points from their opening three league games but suffered a blow last week when playmaker Aras Ozbiliz joined Spartak Moscow.

However, Munteanu is comfortable with the state of his squad. “Motherwell have a reputation as a fighting team and they finished second in the Scottish championship, so they are a really good team,” he said.

“I have enough information on them. But I am pretty confident about my own team. The first three games were quite difficult, they were a test, but we got through it.”