Thursday 28 July 2016 22:49, UK
West Ham face Slovenian outfit NK Domzale in the third qualifying round of the Europa League on Thursday.
The Hammers are looking to join Manchester United and Southampton in the group stages of the competition having finished seventh in the Premier League last season.
Slave Bilic's side will also have to navigate the play-off stage, but what should they expect from their third qualifying round opponents? Here's the lowdown…
The first leg was due to take place on July 28 at the Olympic Stadium, with the return game scheduled for the following week on August 4. However, because of the time taken to convert the Olympic Stadium from athletics mode to football mode after the London Anniversary Games, the tie has been switched, with the Hammers now travelling to Slovenia to play at NK Domzale's SRC Stozice stadium.
Domzale qualified for the Europa League's first qualifying round with a third-placed finish in the Slovenia league last season, and they beat Andorran side Lusitanos 5-2 on aggregate to reach the second qualifying round. There they saw off Belarus' Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3-2 on aggregate with a 2-1 win at home in the second leg.
They are one of Slovenia's oldest clubs having been founded in 1921. They won back-to-back Slovenian titles between 2006 and 2008, but they have not claimed any silverware since a domestic cup triumph in 2011.
Their stadium holds just over 3,000 fans. Their impact in European competition has been minimal, although they did reach the first round of the UEFA Cup in 2005/06, where they were defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Stuttgart.
Their cosmopolitan squad includes a Spaniard, a Brazilian and an Argentine, and they are managed by their record appearance holder Luka Elsner.
Slovenia is a reasonably long trip, with Domzale is situated 760 miles away, but the Hammers did at least avoid a 1,164 mile flight to Belarus due to Soligorsk's defeat.
