The La Liga runners-up had been lined up to meet Mark McGhee's side at Fir Park on Saturday, August 2, in a match to honour Phil O'Donnell by renaming the stadium's main stand.

But an unhappy Well were forced to look elsewhere this week for potential opponents after Villarreal, despite allegedly having signed a mandate to play the game, cancelled both the Motherwell match and another friendly scheduled against Aston Villa.

Another Spanish side, Athletic Bilbao, and Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp emerged as possible replacements as club officials worked frantically behind the scenes this week to set up a new game.

Meanwhile the club's players will begin the build-up to a new campaign when they report back for pre-season training this week.

But although they have been off for a few weeks manager McGhee believes they will have kept themselves in reasonable shape during their break.

He said: "The players are very good and I don't expect any problems in terms of their fitness."

The Well squad do much of their work at a pre-season training camp in Austria which will include friendlies against Romanian champions CFR Cluj and Czech side FC Zlin.

McGhee said: "Originally I hadn't planned on playing any games in Austria, but us qualifying for Europe has meant a rethink and the chance to play the Romanian champions was a good one for us to take.

"They are going straight into the Champions League so playing a team of that level will help to give us an idea of what we can expect."

McGhee of course will be heading to Austria without Ross McCormack after the Fir Parkers were forced to admit defeat in their bid to keep the Scotland striker.

McGhee had hoped that the lure of UEFA Cup football might have persuaded the 21-year-old to remain at Fir Park for the time being, but McCormack has opted to join English Championship side Cardiff City on a Bosman.

However the Fir Parkers will at least be due some compensation from Cardiff due to McCormack's age.

McGhee said: "We're obviously disappointed but it's not really a surprise. Ross had decided he wanted to go to play down south and the opportunity to join Cardiff is a good chance for him."

McCormack, who made his senior debut against Well for Rangers in 2004, was signed by Maurice Malpas from the Ibrox club in the summer of 2006.

He then made his Well debut against Rangers in August of that year but struggled to make an impact in a first season blighted by illness and injury. But he flourished last season under McGhee, with a series of outstnding displays and spectacular goals.

He netted 11 times during the campaign, won back-to-back SPL Young Player of the Month awards and was called up for his full international debut in Scotland's end-of-season friendly with the Czech Republic.