Europa League: Hibs and St Johnstone find out opponents

The Europa League trophy. Both Hibs and St Johnstone discovered their opponents this afternoon. Picture: AP

• Hibernian drawn to play the winners of Drogheda United and Malmo, whilst St Johnstone face Crusaders or Rosenborg

• Ties will be played on July 18 and 25

• Celtic face Cliftonville of Northern Ireland in Champions League qualifiers

The away ties are due to be played on July 18, with the two SPL sides at home on July 25.

Hibernian, the first British club to play in Europe, last played in the competition in 2010/11, where they lost 3-0 and 3-2 to NK Maribor of Slovenia in the third qualifying round.

St Johnstone were knocked out by Turkish side Eskişehirspor last year, but a draw at McDiarmid Park meant the Perthshire side remain unbeaten at home in European competition.

Both sides will have to negotiate two further qualifying rounds to advance to the group stages if they defeat their respective opponents. Hibs have faced Malmo once in European competition, beating them 9-2 on aggregate in the first round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in season 1970/71.

The matches between Crusaders and Rosenborg, and Malmo and Drogheda will be played on July 4 and 11.

Elsewhere in the draw, Welsh side Airbus UK will play FK Ventspils, with the winner advancing to play Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg or Finnish side TPS Turku.

Prestatyn also face Latvian opponents in SK Liepajas Metalurgs, with the winner facing HNK Rijeka of Croatia, whilst Bala Town face Levadia Tallinn of Estonia, with a tie against Pandurii Targu Jiu of Romania awaiting the winners of that clash.

Glentoran have been paired with KR Reykjavik from Iceland, and will take on Belgian cracks Standard Liege if they progress, while Linfield will face Xanthi of Greece if they can get past IF Fuglafjordur from the Faroes.

Dublin side St Patrick’s Athletic face VMFD Zalgiris of Lithuania, with the winner playing FK Teteks of Macedonia or Armenian outfit FC Pyunik.