TNS get a second chance to get through in Europe

Saints will be looking to make home advantage count in the first leg of the Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie.

The return leg will be played in Luxembourg next Tuesday evening.

Saints were knocked out of the Champions League by Swedish champions BK Hacken at the first round qualifying stage last week.

Gothenburg-based Hacken were 2-0 winners in Oswestry as they advanced 5-1 on aggregate.

Swift Hesper also saw their hopes of Champions League progress end 24 hours later as they lost 2-0 at home to Slovan Bratislava, with the Slovakian side going through 3-1 on aggregate.

The Europa Conference League now represents another opportunity for both clubs to attempt to extend their European campaigns.

“The first time I was here it was a straight shoot-out and you had to win to get another opportunity,” said TNS head coach Craig Harrison. “With bringing the Europa League Conference into it as well, it’s a better format for the sort of the lower-ranked teams. It gives them an opportunity of a second bite.

“Yes, we were disappointed, of course we were, but I think we can be positive with the way we finished the game (last Tuesday).

“The second half of last week, I thought we did really well. I thought we were on our front foot and we were very unfortunate really.

“I don’t think we should have got beat on the night and we should have definitely scored at least one goal.”

While Saints were crowned JD Cymru Premier champions for the 15th time last season, it was a first national title for Swift Hesper.

Harrison said: “They were convincing champions last year and they’ve strengthened this year, so it is going to be a very tough game.

“They’ve done reasonably well against Bratislava, so we can only go off those two games we’ve seen.”

Harrison added it is “unfortunate” that Ryan Brobbel, Declan McManus, Danny Williams, Danny Redmond, Jon Routledge and Adam Wilson have not been able to train so far this week.

“It’s very frustrating,” he added. “We’ve obviously got a strong squad – that’s what we’ve got a strong squad for. It’s going to be a 50-50 chance whether we get any of them available for the game.

“Obviously, Dec missed the second leg (against BK Hacken), and Danny Redmond, so it’s going to be a big ask for them to go two weeks without playing a game and without training. Ryan Brobbel took a kick, Danny Williams went over on his ankle, Jon Routledge had a muscle injury and Adam’s been ongoing for two or three weeks now.”

The winners of the tie will progress to play either FC Struga from Macedonia or Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.