Joe Efford was Motherwell's hero as they prepared for their Europa Conference League qualifier with a routine friendly win over Partick Thistle at Firhill.The Championship side started well and looked lively, but Motherwell quickly took a grip of the game and carved some decent chances in the first half that they probably should have taken.That said, it took them until the 59th minute before Efford's strike made the breakthrough, and it came from an error in Thistle's defence, rather than magic created by the Premiership side.They will undoubtedly face a tougher test when Sligo Rovers visit Fir Park on Thursday evening in the second qualifying round.The first half wasn't much to write home about and was played very much like the friendly it was, but Motherwell had some decent efforts, and Joe Efford had a header off the post.Thistle did a lot of the early running, but without forcing Liam Kelly into a save.Motherwell looked more lively in the second half, and got their goal, but didn't really push themselves too hard, perhaps with an eye on Thursday's tie.Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall made seven changes to the side that beat Kilmarnock 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Premier Sports Cup on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon, Darren Brownlie, Tunji Akinola, Cole McKinnon, Ben Stanway, Aidan Fitzpatrick and Tony Weston replaced David Mitchell (GK), Aaron Muirhead, Kevin Holt, Ross Docherty, Kyle Turner, Cammy Smith and Brian Graham.Motherwell boss Graham Alexander handed starts to new signings Blair Spittal and Joe Morris.

Trialist goalkeeper Aston Oxborough, previously with Norwich City, was on the bench.A major red flag for Motherwell fans was the omission of striker Kevin van Veen, who has been heavily

Partick Thistle 0, Motherwell 1: Efford on target as Motherwell sting Jags in friendly win

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