TOMMY Wright admits St Johnstone will have to beat the odds to overcome Rosenborg in Europa League qualifying but stresses stranger things have happened in football.
The worst European result in the Norwegians' history came in the shape of a 9-1 thrashing at the hands of Hibernian in 1974 but they have since become their country's most successful club, making an impact in both the Champions League and Europa League.
Rosenborg crushed Irish part-timers Crusaders 7-2 on Thursday to clock up a 9-3 aggregate win in the first qualifying round and ensure it is they who host the Perth side this Thursday.
It will be Wright's first competitive game in charge, the North Irishman taking over last month after Steve Lomas answered Millwall's call.
On the opposition, he said: "I watched the first game against Crusaders and then their [league] match in Lillestrom and while they got results, they could have lost both.
"Rosenborg are a good club with lots of European experience and I have seen enough to know they have quality. We will treat them with the utmost respect. They've been the national champions 20-odd times and are probably the biggest club in the country with a good fan base and a budget of something like €18 million.
"But we can go into these games with a lot of confidence. We have to go into this tie believing we can win. They are halfway through their season and we will have had 180 minutes against Cowdenbeath and Morton but we have the players as fit as we can in the timeframe, so it's not a negative or an excuse.
"We have to be positive and take the attitude that we have earned the right to be here. It would probably be a shock if we did go through but much bigger shocks have happened in football."
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