Tickets for tonight's Europa League match at Richmond Park are selling fast, and St. Pat's have urged fans to arrive early.

The Saints take on Kyrlia Sovetov of Russia (7.45pm kick-off) in the first leg of their Europa League third round fixture. With the likes of former Czech international Jan Koller playing for the Russian side, Saints manager Jeff Kenna says that his players know that they are facing a tough match.

"All the players realise the scale of the challenge we face and they're really looking forward to it," said Kenna.

"Whether we counter their play or play our own game, it's important that we don't concede a goal. We'd love to score but it will be a difficult task in itself going over there so it's important to keep the tie alive.

"They are a really good side with plenty of internationals and with the support of a fantastic budget but we'll be up for it."

The Saints booked their place in the third round of the competition after new signing Declan O'Brien scored both goals in their 2-1 aggregate victory over Valletta of Malta in the previous round. O'Brien has experience playing against Russian sides - when he was with Drogheda United, he played out a 0-0 pre-season game with Zenit St. Petersburg.

That Zenit team contained the likes of Andrei Arshavin, currently with Arsenal, so O'Brien knows all about the technical ability of Russian sides.

"From my own experience playing against teams like Zenit St. Petersburg, they are very good teams - very strong physically and just top, top teams," said O'Brien.

"For our bunch of players it's very difficult but we look forward to the game. Physically and technically they are so good, so I think it's a very difficult game."