Dundee United manager Peter Houston admitted the Europa League draw could have been kinder after the Tangerines were paired with Polish side Slask Wroclaw.
Houston, who welcomed his players back for the first day of pre-season training, acknowledged they will have their work cut out to get past a team that finished second in their top division, the Ekstaklasa.
United were seeded for the ceremony that took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, so could have expected to have been facing minnows from countries such as Luxembourg or Andorra.
Instead, they got the second-best side in Poland.
There is no easy path through the second qualifying round and they will travel to south-west Poland on Thursday, July 14, with the return leg taking place at Tannadice a week later.
Wroclaw, who have six Polish internationals in their side, finished just behind champions Wisla Krakow in the league last season and won their league cup just two years ago.
Houston has been busy compiling a dossier on Slask and he is expecting the files to make unsettling reading.
“Looking at the draw this is probably the most difficult team we could be facing,” the United boss said. “They have finished second in the Polish league, ahead of some good sides such as Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan.
“That tells you they have a very good pedigree. Polish football is improving all the time so there is no doubt this is going to be a big test.Athenian lessons”It will be very tough but our lads learned a lot from last season when they played AEK Athens. We are hungry for success and they will know a bit more about what it is all about at this level.”
His homework has already unearthed a potential opportunity to watch the Poles play.
“I have managed to find out that they are playing a pre-season tournament in Croatia in a few weeks’ time against Slovan Bratislava and Maribor,” he said.
“So I will be trying to get across to watch them in that, but if not then one of the coaching staff will be there.
“We actually played a Polish team last season in Austria, Arka Gdynia, so that has given us a bit of an idea what it might be like (the game finished goalless).
“They were a very well organised and physical side. Wroclaw actually beat them 5-0 on the final day of the season but they drew 1-1 earlier in the campaign.
“So I will just be gathering as much information as I can about them before the tie comes around. As I said, it is as tough as they come but it is one we are all looking forward to.”ZaluskaUnited skipper Jon Daly revealed they will enlist keeper Lukasz Zaluska as chief spy.
Polish international Zaluska, who starred at Tannadice before clinching a dream move to Celtic, is being asked to compile an up-to-date dossier on Slask.
“I would imagine Lukasz will know a fair bit about them so we will be in contact for sure,” he said. “Sean Dillon still has his number so he will be calling very soon to get a better idea of things.
“We obviously don’t know that much about them but hopefully big Lukasz will fill in a few holes for us.
“It is always handy when you have such a link, so any information he can give us can only be a good thing in our preparations.”
United came close to reaching the group stages last season when they were just edged out by Athens, but Daly is convinced they can use that experience to their advantage.
“Last season’s experience playing AEK will hopefully stand us in good stead,” said Daly. “They were a quality side and it seems as though the Poles are of the same sort of quality.
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“They are obviously no mugs, having just finished second in the Polish league, so we know it will be very tough.
“In saying that, we had a taste of it last season against Athens which should come in handy. It will be important to get a decent result away from home in the first leg.
“Then we have to aim to get them back to Tannadice in front of a big crowd and see what happens.
“It’s a very exciting prospect and all the lads are looking forward to it.
“We have started all the hard work again in pre-season so we’ll be ready for it for sure.
“The gaffer will make sure of that and, to be fair, we’re all fit guys who want to play at the highest level.”
There was good news for United, meanwhile, when midfielder Danny Swanson reported back for pre-season training.
He worked with physio Jeff Clarke instead of the rest of the first-team squad, but that was still encouraging for player and club.
Swanson was sent to hospital last week, following up an earlier trip to the Lilleshall centre in England, to try to find out what is causing the pain in his back and hamstrings.
While still searching for answers, Swanson was back working and will even be going to the Republic of Ireland for United’s pre-season trip at the end of the week.
“Danny wants to train and his scan is not showing anything really. There is wear and tear at the bottom of his back which is affecting his hamstring but he has actually trained harder than the rest of the players today, working away with Jeff,” said Houston.
“I will keep him away from the main training for now. He will come to Ireland with us but I might deliberately not use him because we are going to ease him back in.”