Pulis Pleased With Draw

Tony Pulis was delighted with Stoke's UEFA Europa League draw after they were paired with Croatian giants Hajduk Split in the third qualifying round.

The FA Cup runners-up will return to continental competition for the first time in 37 years this season after last competing in the Uefa Cup.

On that occasion they were knocked out in the first round on away goals by Ajax, and Stoke have again drawn one of Europe's bigger names.

Fantastic

Manager Pulis told the club's official website: "It's a fantastic draw for us and an occasion that every single one of us are looking forward to.

"Hajduk Split are a hugely renowned football club with great tradition in European competitions, and it's also a lovely city for our supporters to go out and visit.

"The draw has only just been made but already my phone hasn't stopped ringing - you can sense the excitement building.

"It would be absolutely fantastic to get a full house at the Britannia Stadium and get the place rocking as we host European football here for the first ever time."

"The draw has only just been made but already my phone hasn't stopped ringing - you can sense the excitement building."
Tony PulisQuotes of the week

While Stoke will hope to win a European tie for the first time at the third attempt, Hajduk possess an impressive European pedigree.

They have reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup three times, most recently in 1994-95, while they were semi-finalists in the Uefa Cup in 1983-84.

Hajduk are also six-time winners of their domestic league, although for the last three years they have had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Dinamo Zagreb.

The first leg will take place at the Britannia Stadium on July 28th before Stoke travel to Split's Stadion Poljud on August 4th.

Quirk

In a quirk of the draw, the Premier League's other representative at this stage of the competition,Fulham, could also face a team from Split.

Martin Jol's side, who are 3-1 up on Crusaders after Thursday's first leg, will meet either RNK Split or Domzale of Slovenia, with the Croatians 2-1 ahead going into their home match.

RNK finished just behind their city rivals in the Prva HNL last season to cap a meteoric rise after three successive promotions and are playing in Europe for the first time.

Hearts will meet Hungarian side Paksi or Tromso of Norway while a clash with either Metalurg Skopje of Macedonia or Bulgaria's Levski Sofia awaits Dunnde  if they can overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit to Slask Wroclaw.