Simo Valakari will return to Motherwell for the first time since he left as a player when he takes his St Johnstone side to Fir Park.
The Finnish boss was a Steelmen favourite, racking up over 100 appearances between the years of 1996 and 2000.
Valakari hasn’t been back in Lanarkshire since moving south to play for Derby County but fate has brought him back to Scotland as manager of their Premiership rivals.
That means his return to Fir Park comes tomorrow as he takes the league’s 10th placed side to take on the fifth.
Valakari on Motherwell return with Motherwell
It is likely to be a weird feeling for the 51-year-old when he returns to the stadium he called home for four years for the first time since 2000.
Valakari says his time at Motherwell was one of the best spells of his career which also took in stints at clubs in his homeland and FC Dallas in MLS.
But he is clued up on the current incarnation of his former club after watching some of their games and expects a tough battle after their Premier Sports Cup semi-final showing against Rangers.
Valakari admits he doesn’t know how to feel ahead of the reunion on what could be a strange day for him.
He said: “I don’t know how I will feel. I have not been back there since I left for Derby County.
“I heard they have levelled the pitch! For me, it was one of my best times as a player to play there. I loved the club.
“I am very much looking forward to seeing the stadium again. There won’t be many people left from my time, if any. It will be totally new.
“But the only thing I am concentrating on now is how we can get the result from there.
“We saw how they played against Rangers in the semi-final. This is a tough, tough team.
“They have their specialities – set-pieces, long throw-ins, fast up top and wingers, good midfielders.
“That’s the only thing I am thinking. This is football business.
“This is my home now here and we go there for a result. It will be a fight for the 90 minutes to get a result.”
Valakari on sorting St Johnstone issues
For his own side, the former Riga boss is focused on trying to stop conceding soft goals through unforced errors.
In losing to Hearts last weekend, the winning goal came from Beni Baningime waltzing through the defence to slip the ball to Kenneth Vargas who finished well.
But Valakari insists his side did play with a big club mentality and looked to have control of the ball. They just need to stop shooting themselves in the foot.
“Look at the second goal we conceded,” he said.
“We went through that goal on Tuesday and you see it wiped out all these very good things we have done on the field.
“We played St Mirren – first half, good; Dundee, some good moments. But Hearts was the first match that we looked and felt like a big club.
“We weren’t any more St Johnstone who tries to play without much possession and almost steal points.
“Then comes this goal.
“And that’s why we are where we are. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong at every stage of that goal.
“And at the same time Hearts showed their quality on the ball. Look back at the game and some of the moments we had, we need to be better.
“I am talking unforced errors. Opponents will put us under pressure, of course, and we will make mistakes.
“But when they are unforced, we need to cut them out and then we become a better and stronger team. That’s what we are working on.”