Saints have no fears ahead of Irish clash

Saints manager Anthony Limbrick has readied his players for a battle against the Belfast club.

"We expect a physical game and have prepared by playing friendlies against opposition who have also been physical tests," said Limbrick.

"The squad has coped well with the schedule and we are travelling with confidence.

"We are under no illusions, we know it will be tough," said Limbrick. "However we are going out there to win and we have the players to achieve that."

Good luck messages to TNS and Newtown at Liverpool Airport today. Picture by Brian Jones.

Limbrick has had a busy first few months at the helm since succeeding the long-serving Scott Ruscoe in January.

Despite failing to overhaul eventual champions Connah's Quay Nomads the Oswestry side ended the season in-form.

Since he has released several long-serving players, including all-time top scorer Greg Draper and defender Simon Spender while veteran winger Jamie Mullan joined Nomads.

In their place defender Danny Davies joined from Nomads while striker Declan McManus joined from Dunfermline Athletic and winger Jordan Williams signed up from Stockport County.

"We had 10 games in the final six weeks of the season so it has been frantic since I arrived," said Limbrick. "We had two weeks off at the end of the season and we have been busy in training and pre-season since.

Declan McManus in action for Dunfermline. Picture by Craig Brown.

"We have prepared for Europe very well.

"The players have also trained well and stepped up for pre-season. They all want to be playing on Thursday night and hopefully the match will be played with a good atmosphere.

"We know they will be ready for us and have a good team and talented players so it should be a good first leg."

Meanwhile, Liverpool John Lennon Airport posted a good luck message to the team as they flew out earlier this week.