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St Johnstone know they will get at least four games in Europe next season.
And they also know the first two of those will be against a club with an impressive pedigree.
But as far as assistant manager Steven MacLean is concerned, the prospect of meeting a well-known name makes the challenge Saints can expect when they enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round all the more enticing.
PSV Eindhoven, Sparta Prague, Rapid Vienna, Galatasary and FC Midtjylland lie in wait when the draw is made on July 19.
The Perth team MacLean was part of set the bar high by defeating Rosenborg in 2013 and an even tougher assignment is in store for the 2021 cup double winners on August 5 and 12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq8rdwI8O-g?feature=oembed
Win it and Saints will progress to the Europa League play-off round, the last hurdle before the group stage.
Even if they lose, though, there is the safety net of a home-and-away chance to make it into the Europa Conference League proper.
“European football is great,” said Callum Davidson’s right-hand man. “It’s a brilliant experience and hopefully fans will be back in because we always seem to get a good crowd at McDiarmid on European nights.
“If they can get back in this summer then I’m sure it will be no different this time around.
“Playing in European games is different. It’s a different mentality because teams keep the ball so much better.
“So it’s good to come up against these different styles as players and as a coaching staff it’s a good challenge as well.
“I’m sure Callum will go to watch whoever we are drawn against and we will be up to speed on them by the time it comes around.”
MacLean added: “Some of the ties we can get are pretty difficult. There are some big names in there.
“It looks great because you want to try yourself against them – and being in round three means if we can win one tie we will be into the group stages of one competition.
“It’s brilliant to see who we can get and everyone is looking forward to it.
“If it is a big name we get, we’ll enjoy pitting our wits against them and we’ll see where it takes us.
“It might have to be a bigger win than Rosenborg when you see some of the teams we could draw.
“For the players and us as coaches, it will be great to try to find a way to win in these big games.
“We will just have to see where it takes us.”
Steven MacLean loves his St Johnstone role beside Callum Davidson and is in no rush to be a manager
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