Mark McGhee is encouraging his Motherwell players to show their "bottle" as they bid to seal a place in next season's UEFA Cup.

A victory over Aberdeen at Fir Park today would secure third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League if Hibernian and Dundee United lose against Celtic and Rangers respectively.

Motherwell have finished in the top three on just two occasions since 1934 and the manager knows they are on the verge of a memorable achievement.

The former Scotland, Celtic and Aberdeen striker has played in numerous cup finals and has told his men they need courage in big games.

"I think you have got to have the bottle to go and try to win them," said McGhee. "If you go in with fear you sometimes cannot perform to your total capabilities. You have got to go in and not have fear of losing. I think that's really important; we have got to go from the first minute to try to win the game."

McGhee has led Reading, Brighton and Millwall to promotions and taken Wolves to an FA Cup semi-final, but he admits helping Motherwell into Europe would equal any success he and his players have enjoyed, especially following the death of captain Phil O'Donnell and problems with the Fir Park pitch.

"It has been a dramatic season in all sorts of ways, which makes it all the more poignant if we were to get some sort of success out of it," said McGhee. "It would rank with anything we have done, particularly given the obstacles that have come our way.

"The players are here because they have the ability, they are good enough to be third. That is not some sort of miracle or fluke. The fact they would have achieved it despite the obstacles is something extra."

Despite coming close to missing out on a top-six place, opponents Aberdeen have climbed back into contention for a European place after collecting 16 points from a possible 21 to move within a victory of Motherwell.

"They are now genuine contenders and we have got to take them seriously," McGhee said. "If we don't lose they can't go above us, so we have still got a big advantage, but they have done well to get back. It's our job to extinguish any glimmer of hope in the first 10 minutes of the game.

"We played them here and were three up in about 12 minutes. We have to have a similar start to that."

McGhee has plenty of options after giving every first-team player a start in narrow defeats by Celtic and Rangers. He praised their "appetite" and is now looking for them to make the fans who take advantage of the £5 admission prices hungry for more Fir Park action.

He added: "If there are a lot of people here that don't come regularly, I think we have got to give them something that makes them say, Good, next season I'll get my season ticket'."