The New Saints return to Shrewsbury Town for another big European night

Oswestry-based Saints turned on the style to beat Astana from Kazakhstan 2-0 on their debut appearance at their temporary European home last month, writes Stuart Dunn.

That historic victory came either side of away defeats against Fiorentina and Shamrock Rovers, with Saints currently placed 24th in the 36-team league phase.

Djurgarden are 16th, a point above Saints, after beating Greek giants Panathinaikos - who will play TNS in Shrewsbury next month - in their most recent European fixture.

The top eight clubs in the league phase, currently led by Chelsea, advance to the last 16 of the competition, with the clubs placed between ninth and 24th qualifying for the knockout phase play-offs.

Looking ahead to tonight’s big game, TNS captain Danny Redmond said: “They’re a side full of quality. We played BK Hacken from their league (last season) and they were a very good side, and I think Djurgarden finished above them in the league this season, which just shows the quality that they’ve got.

“We’re expecting a very tough test and it’s one that we’re looking forward to. Hopefully we can do well on the night.”

Stockholm-based Djurgarden, the champions of Sweden 12 times, finished fourth in this season's Swedish top-flight, which ended earlier this month.

On Saints’ ongoing European adventure, Redmond, who scored a late winner as Saints came from behind to beat Penybont 3-2 in the JD Cymru Premier last weekend, added: “Since qualifying, we’ve had three games so far and every one of them you look forward to, to represent the club on such a big stage like the Conference League.”

Saints have competed well in all three of their league phase matches.

Redmond said: "It’s our first season in the Conference League, but we want to do as well as we can and if that’s qualifying then that would be great.

“We know we’ve got a lot of tough games coming up against some big sides, but it’s one that we’re looking forward to.

“We need to be at our best to get anything from the games, but I think we’ve shown so far that we’ve proved that we can get points and hopefully that can take us even further.”