Europa Conference League: Aston Villa could face Hibs as Hearts and Derry learn potential opponents

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Aston Villa midfielder John McGinnImage source, Getty Images
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Scotland midfielder John McGinn could return to Easter Road with Aston Villa

Aston Villa and Hibernian have been drawn together in the Europa Conference League play-off round should the Edinburgh side defeat Luzern.

Heart of Midlothian will face Hajduk Split of Croatia or PAOK of Greece should they beat Rosenborg in the third qualifying round.

Derry City will face Viktoria Plzen of Czech Republic or Gzira United of Malta if they progress past Tobol Kostanay.

Villa will be away for the first leg due to be played on 24 August.

Hearts and Derry will start at home should they reach the play-off round, with the return legs due to be played a week later.

While it will be Villa's first European tie this season, Hibs have already beaten Inter Club d'Escaldes, recovering from a shock 2-1 loss in Andorra by thrashing the part-timers 6-1 on Thursday.

The pairing means a potential return to Easter Road for Scotland midfielder John McGinn, who moved to Villa from the Scottish Premiership club in 2018.

Hibs midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes and sidelined striker Harry McKirdy are both products of the Premier League outfit's youth academy.

As they look to emulate last season's Conference League winners West Ham United, it would be the first time Villa, who qualified by finishing seventh in the Premier League, will have faced Scottish opposition in European competition.

Hibs, who were fifth in the Premiership, last played an English side in the third round of the 1975-76 Uefa Cup, beating Liverpool 1-0 at Easter Road but losing 3-1 at Anfield.

Hearts qualified for the third qualifying round by finishing fourth and will face either the side who finished runners-up in Croatia or one who placed fourth in the Greek Super League should they progress to the play-offs.

Derry, who have already beaten Faroe Islands side Havnar Boltfelag and KuPS of Finland, must overcome Tobol of Kazakhstan to set up a tie against Viktoria Plzen, who finished third in the Czech Republic, or Gzira United.

The side who were fourth in Malta have already knocked out Northern Ireland's Glentoran this season.

Europa Conference League play-off draw

Champions path

Ballkani (Kosovo) or Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) v Sheriff Tiraspol (Molova) or BATE Borisov (Bulgaria)

Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania) or Hacken (Sweden) v Hamrun Spartans (Malta) or Ferencvárosi (Hungary)

Struga (Macedonia) or Swift Hesper (Luxembourg) v Zrinjski (Bosnia Herzegovina) or Breidablik (Iceland)

Farul Constanța (Romania) or Flora Tallinn (Estonia) v Qarabag (Azerbaijan) or HJK Helsinki (Finland)

Astana (Kazakhstan) or Ludogorets 1945 (Bulgaria) v Valmiera (Latvia) or Partizani (Albania)

Main path

Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel) or Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) v Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)

Dila Gori (Georgia) or APOEL (Cyprus) v Gent (Belgium) or Pogon Szczecin (Poland)

Lech Poznan (Poland) or Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) v Slavia Praha (Czech Republic) or Dnipro-1 (Ukraine)

Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe (Romania) or Aktobe (Kazakhstan) v Bodo/Glimt (Norway) or Pyunik (Armenia)

Tobol Kostanay (Kazakhstan) or Derry City v Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) or Gzira United (Malta)

Hibernian or Luzern (Switzerland) v Aston Villa

Omonoia (Cyprus) or Midtjylland (Denmark) v Legia Warszawa (Poland) or Austria Wien (Austria)

Lille (France) v B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands) or Rijeka (Croatia)

Olympiacos (Greece) or Genk (Belgium) v Adana Demirspor (Turkey) or Osijek (Croatia)

Fenerbahce (Turkey) or Maribor (Slovenia) v Twente (Netherlands) or Riga (Latvia)

Aris Thessaloniki (Greece) or Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) v Besiktas (Turkey) or Neftci (Azerbaijan)

Santa Coloma (Andorra) or AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) v Arouca (Portugal) or Brann (Norway)

Rapid Wien (Austria) or Debreceni (Hungary) v Fiorentina (Italy)

Rosenborg (Norway) or Heart of Midlothian v Hajduk Split (Croatia) or PAOK (Greece)

Fotbal Club FCSB (Romania) or Nordsjælland (Denmark) v Sabah (Azerbaijan) or Partizan (Serbia)

Osasuna (Spain) v Club Brugge (Belgium) or Akureyri (Iceland)

Larnaca (Cyprus) or Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel) v Celje (Slovenia) or Neman Grodno (Belarus)