St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright is having to work overtime to glean information about his side’s Europa League opponents Alashkert FC.
The Saints squad will fly to Armenia tomorrow for the first leg of Thursday’s first qualifying round tie, with Wright conceding footage of the opposition has been sparse to say the least.
He said: “We’ve been pretty fortunate in terms of getting footage of last season and we’ve watched five or six different games now so we know their formations and personnel.
“But they’ve signed seven new players and, while we know of those players, we have no footage of them in the team. What we do know is they are from clubs in and around Alashkert in the league and all we can do is prepare as best as we can and try to put in a performance.
“It’s a tie we feel we can win but we have to make sure we prepare right and we will not be leaving anything to chance.”
Despite the difficulties in preparing for their opponents Wright believes his players are ready for the trip after yesterday’s pre-season game against Aberdeen. The Dons were 1-0 winners but Wright was happy with his team’s performance.
He added: “We’ve had two games in Northern Ireland but this was more physical and there was more passing in this game.
“It was a step up for us and I’m more than happy with the work we put in, but also that we came through with no injuries. It was important we had a strong workout ahead of Thursday’s game which will obviously require us to move up another level again.
“I was particularly pleased for (former Aberdeen defender) Joe Shaughnessy. He’s aggressive and likes to get forward as well as defend and he has given me exactly what I expected.”