Tobias Gulliksen celebrates after scoring Djurgarden's late first half winner
The New Saints could not defy the odds in Shrewsbury as they were edged out 1-0 in their Uefa Conference League clash with Sweden’s Djurgarden.
In a game of few chances, the visitors’ late first-half strike from Tobias Gulliksen was enough to see off the Welsh champions.
But TNS again will take heart from the fact showed they can compete at this level against a side heavily-fancied to progress into the knock-out stages.
Djurgarden are now set for the next round after sealing their second win of the group campaign.
TNS, meanwhile, have two games remaining to try and keep alive their European dream.
The defeat – which follows losses against Fiorentina and Shamrock Rovers – leaves TNS on three points and outside the cut-off for a play-off place.
Djurgarden, meanwhile, ended the game just one place shy of the direct qualification for the quarter-finals.
Craig Harrison’s side now face Greek giants Panathinaikos in a fortnight’s time before their final group fixture against Celje in Slovenia.
Harrison’s job will now to be reinstall belief in his side that they can collect at least one win from those two games to give his side a fighting chance.
They will need to improve on the attacking front if they are to do so, taking too long to really ask serious questions of the Djurgarden defence.
The loss to Djurgarden was Saints' third defeat in the league stage
Still, it was always going to be a tough ask for TNS to repeat their Astana achievement, the Kazakhstan side beaten 2-0 in their previous home fixture.
Earlier this month, Djurgarden had underlined their credentials as one of the group stage’s second seeds by finishing fourth in Sweden’s Allsvenskan.
And while Harrison’s side were looking to respond after defeat in Dublin to Shamrock Rovers, the visitors arrived having seen off Greek giants Panathinaikos in their last European outing.
On top of that, they also arrived with a 2,000-strong support that ensured this felt like a true European occasion.
The flags, the incessant songs and the atmosphere created in the cold air was an added layer for the team from the Cymru Premier to deal with.
What will annoy manager Harrison, then, was that his side had seemingly coped well enough to keep things level at the break.
Though under pressure, they kept discipline and shape, scrambling a defence when they had to.
Only Norway international Tokmac Nguen had looked dangerous, seeing one threatening shot from wide deflected off target and then shooting tamely at Connor Roberts.
With little of the possession they are used to on the domestic scene, TNS had to wait for counter opportunities. They were few and far between, but surging runs of Jordan Williams were among some signs that TNS could cause problems if they continued to frustrate at the other end.
Yet those hopes were dashed four minutes before the interval as full-back Adam Stahl used a mixture of trickery and strength to wriggle his way into space, squaring for Gulliksen to finish.
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The highly-rated forward had also scored in the win over Panathinaikos and the fear was that the breakthrough would see Djurgarden push on and make more of their dominance.
But although they had comfortable control, they failed to add to their lead.
With Harrison bringing on Adam Wilson and Rory Holden – players key in the win over Astana – the added intent posed more problems for the visitors.
But no clear cut openings came, with Josh Daniels covering superbly to deny Deniz Hummett a second.
And as the travelling support celebrated what could be a decisive victory, the disappointment from Harrison’s side was obvious.
The challenge now is – after a Welsh League Cup semi-final with Barry Town – to ensure that they not only compete but cause a shock when Panathinaikos arrive next month.
The New Saints manager Craig Harrison said: "The overriding emotion is pride of players and the staff at the club to show we can compete at this level. We may fall short at this high level in terms of results, but not in character and attitude and hard-work and the players gave everything they could.
"But there is a tinge of disappointment that when we got into good positions we didn’t create the chances or take advantage of getting into the final third. It wasn’t like us but we didn’t have any sustained pressure or ask enough questions because of some wrong decisions."
Interim Djurgarden manager Roberth Bjorknesjo said: "We were 100 per cent
certain it was going to be a tight game.
"We did great work in the first half and in the second half I wanted us to go
for number two.
"We missed five or six good chances and at the end it was a little scary, but
we made a good game and we are happy."
