Young Well players Ross Forbes and Mark Reynolds celebrate the rout

Motherwell chairman John Boyle was full of praise for manager Jim Gannon and his young team after their 8-2 aggregate win over Flamurtari.

The Steelmen progressed to the third qualifying round of the Europa League, where they will face Steaua Bucharest.

"It was a wonderful evening, especially as a lot of the younger lads played so well," Boyle told BBC Radio Scotland.

"Jim Gannon has done a fantastic job in his first four matches. It makes for an exciting start to the season."

Jamie Murphy, who scored a hat-trick in the 8-1 rout of the Albanians, was joined on the scoresheet by another 19-year-old Paul Slane, while fellow scorers Ross Forbes, Shaun Hutchinson and Robert McHugh are products of the club's Under-19 squad.

Boyle added: "Motherwell have always been a team that have produced an excellent slate of youngsters.

"That's what we did with the James McFadden and Stephen Pearson. David Clarkson and Paul Quinn have recently moved on - we do concentrate very specifically on bringing up young players.

"Lanarkshire is a very fertile ground for footballing talent and we try to make sure we crop the best of it.

"Some of these players have really excelled themselves in what have been very competitive games."

Earlier in the week, Boyle spoke of the importance of European football to Motherwell's finances.

With the win over Flamurtari, the club's turnover should be boosted by the visit of the Romanians in the third qualifying round.

"When you're a small team like Motherwell, being able to play in Europe is obviously a bonus and being able to do so well, as we did last night, is great for the club and for the fans," said Boyle.

"We had a huge support at the Airdrie Excelsior Stadium last night. There were 4,600 people in the middle of a holiday period; that says something for the prospect of summer football, I suspect.

"Next Thursday brings us into a different arena against where we're playing Steaua Bucharest, who are obviously a known team.

"Financially, I'm not sure what happens in terms of prize money for getting through to the next round, but it's much better.

"We would hope that, if we can at least do something good in Bucharest next Thursday, we'll get a bumper gate back in Scotland the following week."

With Fir Park undergoing pitch renovations, the home tie with Steaua will also be played at the Excelsior Stadium.

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