Motherwell will need to be wary of Odense striker Peter Utaka
By Alasdair Lamont BBC Scotland in Odense
And so the Scandinavian odyssey continues for Motherwell and their band of followers.
This time it's Denmark, following jaunts to Iceland and Norway in the previous round of the Europa League qualifiers.
The early start to the season will be very much worth it if they can negotiate this round as successfully as they did the others, for lying in wait are riches of which most Scottish clubs can now only dream.
If that fairytale is to come through, it seems rather appropriate that it hinges largely on a trip to the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen - Odense.
While Thursday's match is only the first leg in the play-off round, the result could go a long way to deciding whether Craig Brown's men take their place in the draw for the group stages a week on Friday.
There, Motherwell would be guaranteed a further six matches, likely to generate in the region of £1.5m.
For a club whose annual turnover sits around the £4m mark, that is a huge sum, one which could transform their whole season, and beyond.
But you can be sure Brown nor anyone else at the club are skipping the pages, anticipating a happy ending, for they know full well the final chapter will be the most difficult to write - if that's not stretching the fairytale allusion too far!
Brown is a cautious operator and has already warned that OB, as the Danish club are commonly known, are significantly superior to their previous opponents - Breidablik and Aalesunds.
Last year's second-placed finish behind FC Copenhagen in the Danish league goes some way to confirming that.
As usual, the former Scotland manager has been thorough in his preparation, enlisting the help of his old friend Richard Moller Nielsen, the man who led Denmark to success at Euro 92, to get the lowdown on Thursday's opposition.
Djemba-Djemba pulls the midfield strings for Odense
So the Motherwell players will know exactly where the main threats of OB lie, but one name that will be recognisable to most football followers is that of the Cameroon international Eric Djemba-Djemba, formerly of Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Though he failed to firmly convince fans of either of those clubs of his ability, he has been pinpointed as a pivotal player for OB and, as such, John Sutton will be asked to play off the front to 'sit' on Djemba-Djemba, to try to lessen his influence.
Roy Carroll is another man who left the English Premier League with a less than flawless reputation, but he was voted goalkeeper of the year in Denmark last season as he helped his new club to challenge Copenhagen.
Motherwell themselves have conceded just the one goal on their European travels this season, an injury-time penalty in Norway, but a real threat to that statistic will be Peter Utaka, younger brother of Portsmouth's John.
He has proved a prolific goalscorer during his two seasons in Denmark, as well as a creative force, and having faced rather toothless attacks in the previous two rounds, Motherwell are likely to pay a higher price if they allow OB the type of opportunities they at times gifted their previous opponents.
They have, though, performed admirably to get to this stage, and while it will require an even greater effort to continue the tale, victory could turn Motherwell from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan - or something like that…
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