The NEW SAINTS boss Scott Ruscoe is gearing up for a scouting mission as he prepares his side for their UEFA Champions League first round qualifier in Macedonia.

TNS were drawn with KF Shkëndija in last week's draw and he will be headed to Austria to watch them in a friendly tomorrow as he plots how the Saints will try to get past them.

Shkëndija won their league at a canter last year but fell at the final Europa League hurdle to AC Milan in 2017/18 and Ruscoe knows they will give his TNS side a tough test.

"After seeing the draw and the five teams we ultimately could have drawn, then they are the second toughest after NK Olimpija Ljubljana from Slovenia, who were the biggest team we could have drawn," he said.

"We’ve been planning and looking at highlights to assess their strengths and weaknesses. They won the league by 35 points, scoring 101 goals and they’re full of internationals.

"They’re going to be very strong and they’re used to winning. They played 36 games last year, losing only four, drawing three and winning the rest.

"We know how they play, their formation and we’ve heard two of their players have left the club but we’re trying to find out if that’s true.

"I’m going to watch them on Wednesday; I’m flying to Austria on to watch them play the fourth-best team in Croatia so hopefully they will be playing their strongest team.

"We’re doing our research the right way, going to watch them. We’ll come back on Thursday and then we’ll be ready for Falkirk on Friday.

"Everything we need to know about them will be put into practice in Friday’s friendly and then Rangers the following Tuesday with our strongest team possible."