St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has promised he will know all about FC Luzern by the time the teams kick off in Switzerland.
Saints will travel to the Swissporarena three weeks on Thursday for their Europa League second qualifying round first leg before welcoming Carlos Bernegger’s men to Perth for the return on July 23.
That doesn’t leave too much time for Wright to do his homework but he is confident he will have seen enough by the time they fly out.
The Swiss domestic league season doesn’t start until next month but Luzern are in cup action against FC Schaffhausen on Saturday a possible opportunity for Wright to watch them in action.
As well as taking in a game or two, the gaffer will also be picking the brains of former player Sanel Jahic, who now plies his trade in Switzerland for Grasshopper of Zurich.
Wright said: “My first reaction is that it’s a tough tie. I don’t know much about them at this stage but will be doing that work over the next few days.
“I will be speaking to people about getting footage of their games from last season and I would hope to get across to see them in person at least once, if not twice, before the first leg.
“By the time the game comes around, we will know plenty about them and what they do. Sanel is also in Switzerland after leaving us in January so I will be giving him and ring to see what he has to say about them as well.”
Although Wright stressed it looks to be a tough tie, he also pointed out that the sides may be well matched.
“From my first look at them, it would appear we are pretty similar clubs,” he said.
“They won 15 games last season and lost 15, that’s a similar record to what we had in our league.
“It won’t be an easy tie, though, because Swiss football is very good and their team qualified for the World Cup. That shows the quality of player they have.
“Their season stars on the 20th of July so they will be a few weeks ahead of us in terms of preparation but that’s not something we bother about.
“We know that if we’ve got a good game plan and stick to it then we’ve got a chance against anyone. We proved it last season against Rosenborg and Minsk away, so it will be the same approach again.
“Last year we surprised a few people with our results in Europe, but this season we won’t have that shock factor because I’m sure they’ll look at our away wins and won’t take us lightly.”
A couple of big plusses for Wright is the away trip should be accessible to the supporters and that it is not too far for his players to travel.
“From a travelling point of view, it’s a great draw,” he said.
“What we didn’t want was to be going to some far-flung place that takes a lot of organisation. The fans missed out in Belarus last season so I am delighted it’s relatively easy to get to for them.”
Luzern expect to bring between 500 and 750 fans with them to Perth for the second leg.
Meanwhile, Saints are understood to be renewing their interest in former Falkirk and Dundee United frontman Farid El Alagui. The striker spent the latter part of last season at Tannadice on loan from Brentford.
Saints were in competition with United for El Alagui during the January transfer window and are now likely to try to land him again.