Kilmarnock and St Mirren learn next possible Euro opponents

Kilmarnock and St Mirren start their European adventures this week

Norwegian opponents could await both Kilmarnock and St Mirren in European competition after the draws for Europa League and Conference League qualifying.

Kilmarnock will meet Molde or Silkeborg of Denmark in the Europa League third qualifying round if they get past Cercle Bruges.

Should they lose to the Belgians, the Ayrshire side will drop into the Conference League third qualifying round, where they will take on whoever wins between Tromso of Norway and KuPS Kuopio of Finland.

St Mirren, meanwhile, will face the winner of the match between Brann of Norway or Go Ahead Eagles of the Netherlands in that same Conference League qualifying round should they defeat Valur Reykjavic of Iceland.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson said: "Both ourselves and Valur will be looking at it thinking it is a fantastic tie, but we've got a big hurdle to overcome first."

Valur are 14 games into their domestic league season and sit third in the table while it will be St Mirren's first competitive game, but Robinson insists "I believe we are ready" and his side are "very prepared" for the game.

"In recent years, Scottish teams maybe haven't progressed as much as we should have done and that's always a challenge at this time of the season when people are in midst of their season - you have to bridge that gap as well," he said.

"But there's no excuses. We're going to a country we are well aware of to play a team we know their strengths and weaknesses and we have a lot of respect for, but we go into the game with real hopes."

If St Mirren and Kilmarnock were to win their third qualifying round ties, they would face a play-off to reach the league phase, which replaces the group stage this season.

The first leg of Kilmarnock against Cercle on Thursday (19:30 BST) will be shown live on BBC Scotland and iPlayer.

Molde or Silkeborg will be at home first against Kilmarnock or Cercle, with the two legs played on 8 and 15 August.

Derek McInnes' side will be at home first should they lose to Cercle and face either Tromso or KuPS instead.

St Mirren will be at home on 8 August against Brann or Go Ahead should they defeat Valur, with the away tie a week later.

Who are the possible opponents?

KuPS midfielder Jaakko Oksanen played 16 times for Greenock Morton in 2021-22

Molde: The side who have had Erling Moe in charge since 2018 finished fifth in the Eliteserien last year and currently sit third behind Bodo/Glimt and Brann. A largely home-grown squad includes two midfielders who came through Manchester United's academy and had spells with Cardiff City - captain Magnus Wolff Eikrem and Mats Møller Dæhli.

Finished third in their Europa League group won by Bayer Leverkusen last season before losing to Club Bruges in the Conference League last 16.

Silkeborg: The side managed by former Aston Villa and Denmark centre-back Kent Nielsen were sixth in last season's Danish Superliga. Another largely home-grown squad includes Peru right-back Oliver Sonne and Kazakhstan midfielder Ramazan Orazov.

Finished third in West Ham United's Conference League group two seasons ago.

Tromso: Jørgen Vik and Gard Holme are joint head coaches after Gaute Helstrup moved to be Bodo/Glimt assistant and currently sit 12th in the Norwegian top flight after last year's third-place finish. A largely home-grown squad is captained by former Norway midfielder Ruben Yttergård Jenssen, while goalkeepers Jakob Haugaard and Simon Thomas have experience in the UK with Stoke City and Huddersfield Town and Newport County respectively.

Last reached the Europa League group stage in 2013-14.

KuPS Kuopio: Were runners-up in Finland's Veikkausliiga in Jani Honkavaara's first season as head coach and he was recently appointed Finland assistant. A largely home-grown squad includes midfielder Jaakko Oksanen, who had loan spell with Greenock Morton on loan from Brentford.

Lost to Derry City in the second round of Conference League qualifying last season but beat Luxembourg side UNA Strassen in this season's first round.

Brann: Eirik Horneland's side were runners-up in Norway last season and currently sit second, six points behind Bodo/Glimt. Their squad includes Norway forward Bård Finne and former Manchester City youth goalkeeper Eirik Johansen.

Lost to AZ Alkmaar after a penalty shoot-out in the Conference League play-off round last year.

Go Ahead Eagles: Were ninth in the Eredivisie last season. Paul Simonis' squad has a mixture of Dutch players and foreign imports and includes former Liverpool youth and Lazio forward Bobby Adekanye.

This is their first European venture since losing in the Europa League first round to Ferencvaros in 2015.