Football is football and anything can happen.

Those are the words of Danny Holmes as Connah’s Quay Nomads head to Serbia looking to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and create more history for the club.

Andy Morrison’s Nomads are priced at 22/1 to win the tie and 20/1 to qualify with Savo Milosevic’s Partizan 1/16 and 1/200 respectively.

But Nomads were huge underdogs to get past Kilmarnock in the first qualifying round having trailed 2-1 heading to Scotland, Morrison’s men producing a memorable display to win 2-0 and progress.

On the chance of lightning striking twice tomorrow night, Holmes said: “People will have written us off against Kilmarnock and we are still in the tie.

“We are very good from set-pieces and hopefully we can put one away and make them nervous.

“We’ve just got to go over there, keep a clean sheet and see what happens.

“They won’t fancy playing against us and hopefully we can give them a bit of a scare.

“It’s a really tough ask, but football is football and anything can happen.”

But Holmes knows the task facing Nomads in Serbia is tougher than in Scotland due to the ability running through the Partizan squad, which includes internationals and former Manchester United winger Zoran Tosic.

“They were a step above Kilmarnock, I think you could tell that, but it makes you switch on more as a player,” said Holmes.

“It’s going to be a really tough game going over there because they’ve got some real quality players, but it’s a challenge we’ll relish. They didn’t cut us open. We are really good at stifling the opposition with a compact unit that talks really well.

“Any team we come up against we know we are going to make life difficult for them.”

Holmes feels his team-mates need to be streetwise if they are to cause a stir in Belgrade, the experienced defender becoming visibly frustrated by Partizan gamesmanship in Rhyl.

“It was really frustrating because there are some big lads in their team and even before the ball got to them they are screaming and the referee bought it,” said Holmes.

“It happens in European games and you’ve just to get on with it really, but on the flip side, maybe we are too honest and if we get touched we might have to play the game a bit more.”

The 30-year-old is expected to line up in the centre of defence alongside captain George Horan in Serbia, a role that he’s happy to fulfil despite his five foot, 11 inch frame.

“To be honest I played there the vast majority of my younger years - either central midfield or central defence,” explained Holmes.

“I only got shifted to right-back because of my size, so I’ve always been able to play there and, to be honest, it’s probably my best position.

“I just wish I was six foot three and not five foot 11!”

Nomads’ trip to Belgrade will be shown live on S4C, S4C Clic and the Sgorio Facebook Page on Thursday.

Kick-off is at 8pm with the programme and live stream beginning five minutes before the start of play.