Aberdeen’s Europa League journey starts in sweltering Skopje tonight but Jonny Hayes knows reaching the competition’s lucrative group stages will be a mammoth task for the Dons.
Derek McInnes’ Reds will have to progress through four qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the first round proper, starting with tonight’s opponents.
The Dons reached the third qualifying round last year after overcoming Daugava Riga and Groningen before being knocked out by Spanish side Real Sociedad.
A £1.8million windfall is the reward for the teams that reach the Europa League’s group stages but Hayes accepts the odds are stacked against the Dons going that far.
He said: “You have to be realistic. There’s a slim chance for us to make the group stages. We have to have the belief we can win the games that could help us qualify.
“But we know there are a lot of really good sides in the competition as you go on. We have two tough draws already.
“It’s not as easy as it was a few years ago. You used to play far fewer games to get there.
“It’s obviously the way football is these days. They want to eliminate the smaller teams as much as possible.
“If you look at the Champions League, they want the big teams in there and if not they drop down to the Europa League.
“It makes it really tough to get there. If we get through the first two ties there are a lot of big clubs coming in at that stage.
“You never know. We showed what we could do against a good Dutch side last year. There are a lot of great games that could come up but we will be doing everything to go as far as we possibly can.”
The Aberdeen players have enjoyed little time to relax and unwind since last season’s campaign ended on May 24 with a 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone.
But Hayes feels one benefit of the short break is the players’ fitness levels should still be sharp enough to cope with the demands of playing in the Philip II Arena, where temperatures are expected to be around 25C, despite kicking off at 9.05pm local time.
Hayes said: “It’s obviously difficult but you just need to look after yourself during your time off. The way the game is these days players do that anyway but you need to take extra care when you come back so early.
“It was a bit hectic, seeing family in Inverness and in Dublin. We managed to go to Portugal for a break, which was our first holiday with our son.
“Us strawberry blondes don’t cope well with the hot weather, so a few days was enough.
“Thankfully, the game is at 9.05pm. Mind you, Barry Robson, Adam Rooney and me could get sunburnt in the dark. We’ll still need to get the sunblock on.
“Two or three weeks off is enough because any more and you start worrying about what shape you are in.
“You want to be back almost ready for the start of the season right away.
“I’m sure the players all stuck to the training programme as everyone is back in great shape and raring to go.”
An estimated 200 Dons supporters are expected to make the trip to Skopje, while only a couple of thousand are expected to cheer on KF Shkendija, who normally play their home matches in Tetovo.