Motherwell

Alfred Johansson appeared to have walked into an incredibly difficult job at Motherwell this summer.

Motherwell finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership last season, playing some of the best football you could wish to see, and all on one of the top-flight’s lowest budgets.

Not only was Johansson following in Jens Berthel Askou’s sizeable footsteps after the Danish manager left for Toulouse, he was also dealing with the departures of key players in Elijah Just, Elliot Watt and Calum Ward, who have joined Swansea City, Samsunspor and QPR, respectively.

And yet, the Swede has started in fine style.

Sunday’s 2-1 win at Hibernian was a third victory on the spin after a 5-0 aggregate success against Faroese outfit HB Torshavn and they showed two very different sides of themselves at Easter Road.

Amid a second-half onslaught from the hosts, Motherwell stood firm, led defensively by summer recruit Martin Moormann, before Ibrahim Said scored a brilliant winner on the break.

“It was a game of ups and downs for both teams and obviously I’m really pleased to come out with the three points,” Johansson said.

“In the first half we showed some good stuff on the ball, but more than tactics, we have to praise the spirit of the team because at times we had to ride out storms.

“We have Martin Moormann throwing himself to make blocks, the front three dropping deep to help and Alex Paulsen making exceptional saves.

“When we hit it off, the good periods look really good, but we want those periods to be longer, but even months from now when we are better we will have to suffer and the guys showed they are ready to do that.”

“He can play in more than one position and his versatility will be a great fit in the side,” said Swansea head coach Vitor Matos.

“Elijah joins us after performing well in all aspects of our recruitment process, and after a brilliant performance at the World Cup and we are very happy to have him with us.”

Just joins fellow New Zealand international Marko Stamenic at Swansea.

He will also be reunited with summer signing Stephen Welsh, who spent last season on loan at Motherwell from Celtic.

Motherwell insist they have received no approach for manager Jens Berthel Askou amid reports, external linking the Dane with French Ligue 1 side Toulouse.

Berthel Askou has made an extraordinary impact at Fir Park since taking charge last summer, with his side on the fringes of the Scottish Premiership for a time and on the brink of securing European football.

Before arriving in Scotland, the 43-year-old Dane was assistant at FC Copenhagen and has had spells at clubs in his homeland, Sweden and the Faroe Islands.

He had been linked with Celtic and it is now been reported that he is attracting interest from mid-table Ligue 1 side Toulouse, with their head coach Carles Martínez Novell leaving at the end of the season.