Shropshire Star

Countdown underway for TNS

Newtown and The New Saints have just one more month left to until they discover who they will be facing in the qualifying rounds of European competitions in the summer.

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Anthony Limbrick's TNS side will go back into the Champions League after their league success - with the games being played early in July.

And Newtown will drop into the UEFA Europa Conference League for the second consecutive season - and they will take part in their opening qualifying round clashes on July 7 and 14.

The draws are set to take place on June 14 - and here is a look at who the clubs could face in their first round.

For Newtown, many of the sides in the draw are relatively unknown.

Last year they headed to Ireland to take on Dundalk - and a short trip could be on the cards again, with Sligo Rovers and Derry City already qualifying for the competition.

A trip to Northern Ireland could also be possible, with Crusaders and Cliftonville already qualifying - with a third sport yet to be confirmed.

Out of those who have already secured their spot, Georgian outfit Dinamo Tblisi are one of the more well known names, having regularly competed in European competitions in the past.

Europa and St Josephs are two Gilbratar sides who they could face - with the former having lined up against TNS in the past.

A trip to Malta, where Newtown have won in the past, could also happen with Floriana and Hamrun Spartans qualifying and a second spot still available.

Newtown could return to Riga, a side they faced back in the 1990s, and a trip to to face Kauno Zalgiris, who TNS thumped last year, could also come out of the hat.

For TNS, they are set to go into the first qualifying round as a seeded team which will provide Limbrick's men with a huge boost.

That means they will avoid some big sides, such as Malmo from Sweden, Shamrock Rovers, Slovan Bratislava and Hungarian outfit Fenencvaros.

The sides who they could face are also relatively unknown - with Hibernians from Malta one of the more well known names.

Serbian side Sutjeska Niksic, Belurus side Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Khazakstan outfit Torbol are three of the sides they could face.

Champions from Albania, Georgia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland and Armenia will also make up the draw.