BALA Town manager Colin Caton is looking for his side to put the excitement of their forthcoming Europa League tie at Belgian giants Standard Liège on hold when they kick-off their Cymru Premier campaign at champions Connah’s Quay this Saturday.

After the euphoria of their historic 1-0 win over Valletta in the first qualifying round of the Europa League in Malta, Caton’s men returned with a 1-0 friendly win over Witton Albion at Wincham Park last weekend.

Will Evans’ first half header was the only goal of the game in what proved a worthwhile workout against the Northern Premier League outfit, and all attention now turns to their curtain-raiser against the Nomads, behind closed doors at Deeside this Saturday (ko 5.15pm).

After finishing last season’s curtailed campaign in a high-flying third place behind Connah’s Quay and The New Saints, the Lakesiders will be determined to show their title credentials against Andy Morrison’s top side.Despite a lengthy lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, Caton had promised that his new-look Bala side would be fit and focused - and after friendlies against Crewe, Shrewsbury Town and The New Saints, they proved their worth in Malta.

During the summer, Bala have recruited well, with Antony Kay joining from Chorley; Raul Correia from Southport, Nathan Peate from Cefn Druids, Alex Ramsey from Caernarfon, Will Evans from Cardiff Metropolitan and Llyr Morris from Ruthin.

Departures include Mike Hayes, Josh Tibbetts, Louis Robles, Nathan Burke, Stuart Jones and Ashley Morris, but Caton is confident his squad has been strengthened.

“Winning out in Malta and taking this team through to the next round of the Europa League is the biggest achievement of my career, and for Bala and for everybody involved,” he said after Chris Venables’ goal had secured their first ever away win in the Europa League.

“I can honestly say this is the best group of players that I’ve ever had here now. We are well-prepared, having trained as often as we can. We’ve had some good friendlies in pre-season too, and we have added experience to the squad as well.”

After playing in the opening game of the Nomads’ title defence, which will be screened live on S4C, the Lakesiders can then turn their attention to facing Liege next Thursday, 17 September, at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, with a 7pm kick-off.

The live stream of the keenly-anticipated match in Belgium will be available to watch live on the Sgorio Facebook page, and S4C Clic.

Connah’s Quay, having lost 2-0 against FK Sarajevo of Bosnia in their Uefa Champions League qualifying tie in Cardiff, also have the distraction of a home tie against Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi in the second qualifying round of the Europa League next Thursday in Wrexham.

The Nomads had continued their dominant pre-season form with a 2-0 victory at Newtown last Friday night, thanks to second half goals from Michael Wilde and Jamie Insall, having also beaten Flint 2-0 and Cefn Druids 4-0 in recent weeks.