By Gareth James
Craig Harrison insists The New Saints remain capable of making the Conference League knockout phase despite suffering a third group defeat.
The Welsh champions lost 1-0 to Djurgarden at their temporary Shrewsbury base as their streetwise Swedish opponents called on all their European experience to prevail.
TNS have three points from four games, courtesy of last month’s home victory over Astana of Kazakhstan.
They will need at least another three or four points from remaining fixtures against Panathinaikos of Greece and Celje from Slovenia to make the top-24 spot needed for a Conference League play-off place next year.
FT | @tnsfc 0-1 Djurgårdens
The Blue Saints victorious over The New Saints in Shrewsbury, deservedly so, but a respectable result for the Welsh champions.
Hats off to the 1,500ish travelling fans, fantastic effort throughout. #UECL pic.twitter.com/7tVI8GVu5c
— Cai Parry (@CaiSParry) November 28, 2024
TNS manager Harrison said: “It’s going to be tough but we’ve still got a mathematical chance.
“One more win might get us through and it will certainly takes us close because of our goal difference.
“We lost by one against Shamrock, one against Djurgarden and two in Fiorentina.
“There’s not much between the teams, and if that’s not a possibility we still want to finish as high as we can.
“Three or four media outlets said we would finish with no points and bottom of the pile, so we’ve got to do our best to get as many points as we can.”
TNS struggled to fashion chances against seasoned European campaigners who finished fourth in the Swedish League this year.
But Djurgarden had to rely on Tobias Gulliksen’s calm sidefoot finish four minutes before half-time to take three points and move them on to seven overall.
Harrison said: “Teams like Panathinaikos and Djurgarden are no strangers to this part of this competition.
“The overriding feeling is that I’m proud of the players, the staff and this football club.
“I think a lot of people wanted us to fail and lose by double figures, especially in Fiorentina.
“But it’s tinged with disappointment. We did not have a lot of clear-cut chances, but we had some good positions in the final third and we haven’t taken advantage of them.
“That’s not like us, but we didn’t get any sustained pressure because we made some wrong decisions to ask them more questions.
“When we get in those positions we got to try and keep things alive. We can’t let things fizzle out.”
Interim Djurgarden manager Roberth Bjorknesjo said: “We were 100 per cent certain it was going to be a tight game.
“We did great work in the first half and in the second half I wanted us to go for number two.
“We missed five or six good chances and at the end it was a little scary, but we made a good game and we are happy.”
The New Saints Stop The Rot And Give Boost To Craig Harrison