Craig Harrison believes The New Saints can make the knockout stage of the Conference League after creating Welsh football history by beating Astana.
TNS became the first Welsh Premier side to win a group game in a major European competition as goals from Rory Holden and Declan McManus, from the penalty spot, secured a 2-0 victory at their temporary Shrewsbury base.
Harrison believes seven points will be enough to make the knockout phase – and TNS have remaining games at home against Djurgarden (Sweden) and Panathinaikos (Greece), with away trips to Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland) and Celje (Slovenia).
“If we keep putting in performances like that and keep clean sheets we’ll ask questions and see where that takes us,” said Harrison, whose Welsh champions lost their opening game away to Italian giants Fiorentina 2-0.
“We want to get as close to seven points as possible. We think that may be enough to qualify with a good goal difference.
What a performance from The New Saints 😍#UECL | @tnsfc pic.twitter.com/TuzPYAMyKM
— UEFA Conference League (@europacnfleague) October 24, 2024
“We lost 2-0 in Fiorentina and that could be the difference between getting through to the top 24.
“I think seven points and a good goal difference will do. Eight points definitely. If we get seven points we’d be really disappointed if we didn’t make that top 24.”
Astana are experienced European campaigners and claimed the scalp of Manchester United in the Europa League five years ago.
But manager Grigoryi Babayan’s decision to leave 11 players at home with only a few weeks of the Kazakhstan Premier League season left and Astana in the title race backfired on them.
Harrison said: “It threw us off a little bit because we’d done two days of planning and we expected a completely different team.
“It was always going to be a special night no matter what happened being our first home game (in a group stage).
“But I’m extremely proud of the players and everyone at this football club.
“We had to get the balance right, we couldn’t go gung-ho and just go for the jugular.
“They’ve still got international players and they are regulars in European football.
“It was only five years ago they beat Manchester United 2-1, they’ve been in the Champions League and they’ve got a lot of history,
Welsh football means business 💼@tnsfc | #UECL pic.twitter.com/lBhBh4elT7
— JD Cymru Leagues 🏴 (@CymruLeagues) October 24, 2024
“But we took advantage of the moments we had and their goalkeeper made three or four good saves, as well as the two goals we got.”
Babayan said he had no option but to play a weakened side in Shrewsbury.
He said: “It’s a very long distance, we had to get a public flight, and we have a very important game on Sunday.
“The team we played and the long journey did not work out for us.
“We regret the result, but we could not match our opponents and we did not take our chances.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
