The Montenegrin champions present far less of a threat than BK Hacken at this stage last year.
The then Swedish champions brushed TNS aside 5-1 on aggregate before going on to reach the group stages of the Europa League, where they faced Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. But you won’t find Saints boss Craig Harrison taking anything for granted.
“The way football has gone, the gaps are getting smaller, any team that wins their respective national league are going to be a good team, of course they are,” he said. “So we understand it will be a really tough game and we understand that it’s going to be close, but without sounding disrespectful BK Hacken were a different level to the teams are now at this stage.
“That’s not to say we won’t prepare as best as we can, but it’s a little bit more of a level playing field and will be a bit more of an opportunity – and I’m sure they (Decic) are saying the same thing as well.”
It is five years since TNS last reached the second qualifying round and, with the introduction of the Europa Conference League in the meantime, a win over two legs in this tie will guarantee at least three more rounds of European football.
“If we turn up, prepare right, get the right game plan and all the players turn up then it gives us an opportunity to win the game,” added Harrison.