Lee Croft believes St Johnstone may just have beaten the best team they will play this season.
Swiss side FC Luzern were knocked out of the Europa League by Saints after a dramatic penalty shoot-out last week but left Perth having mightily impressed their hosts.
Packed full of skill and invention, Luzern looked a class act but could not shake off the Scots, who held their nerve brilliantly to score with all five of their penalties after the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.
Now Tommy Wright’s team turn their attention to their next opponents, Spartak Trnava, who visit McDiarmid Park this Thursday for the first leg of their third qualifying round clash.
Croft feels that having triumphed over the silky Swiss then Saints should be confident going forward in both this competition and the forthcoming Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Englishman said: “I don’t know much about Spartak Trnava but we know it won’t be easy and there are no straightforward games at this level.
“However, I doubt they will be as good as Luzern.
“Luzern were a very good side and the lads were saying afterwards that we probably won’t come up against a team as good as that again this season.
“I really thought they were different class. They moved the ball around well and had some really good players.
“Swiss football is very strong you can see that from their national team so the size of achievement in knocking one of their teams out shouldn’t be underestimated.
“We got through the Luzern game because of our togetherness and that’s what we’ll need again in this round.
“The lads all fight for each other and that’s our biggest asset as a team.
“Now we are one round away from the play-offs, where some really big clubs come into the competition. So it would be magnificent if we could get through there.”
The Luzern victory will linger long in the memory and Croft and his team-mates would love it to be another Euro glory night when Trnava come calling.
“It was a great night and the atmosphere was fantastic,” he added.
“Now we are hoping it’s the same again this week. I am sure everyone who was here last week will have enjoyed it and will want to come back.
“It was exciting and the way it finished, with us hitting the post in the last few minutes and then winning on penalties, was great drama.
“So hopefully we can get another big crowd this Thursday and that they can play their part.”
There were some tired legs during extra-time against Luzern but Croft insisted that fatigue won’t be a factor against the Slovaks.
“We have worked hard in pre-season to be ready for these games and we are loving it,” added Croft. “The boys’ fitness levels have been good and the summer has been much more enjoyable because we have been playing in competitive games.
“We have started on a wee bit of a journey and we want to keep it going now.”
Of course, having the home leg first will be a different experience for Saints, who have travelled away first for all their recent Euro matches.
Croft is confident they will be able to adapt.
“I would prefer to play away from home first so you can bring them back here and know exactly what you have to do,” he admitted. “But if we can get a good result here to take away with us it would be great.
“Aberdeen showed against Groningen that if you don’t lose a goal at home then you give yourself a real chance. If you keep it tight at home and then nick one away, you are in a strong position.”
Meanwhile, Steven Anderson is set to be sidelined once again.
The central defender has missed the Euro matches due to a hamstring problem and he won’t play on Thursday.
The hope is, however, that Anderson will be able to feature at some stage during his own testimonial match against Hearts on Sunday.