SHANE Long says Saints must pick themselves up after the disappointment of Everton and make sure they don't waste their Europa League opportunity.

Ronald Koeman's side suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to the Toffees on Saturday, but are back at St Mary's tomorrow for the visit of FC Midtjylland.

The match against the Danish champions is the first leg of the Europa League play-off between the clubs, with the winner advancing to the group stages.

“I said it before, it would be a shame to do so well last season, put yourself in this sort of position and qualify for Europe and not make the most of it," said Long.

"It’s a challenging competition, playing Thursdays and Sundays. It’s challenging for your league [form], but we’ve got a lot of players in now – you can see with the strength on the bench, we can rotate, and the gaffer has that luxury now, and I think we all want to put a good season behind us and that starts with Europe as well.

"Thursday night is going to be a tough test for us, but I’m sure we can do the job."

While Midtjylland were unseeded for the latest draw, Long insists Saints have no plans to take them lightly.

"I think they’re top of the league in Denmark the last time I looked and obviously are going to be a good side," he said.

"We’ll probably study them all week and I’m sure the gaffer will have a game plan - he always does - and we’ll try our best to put that into action on the pitch.

"I’m sure again if we start off on the right foot, press them and really cause them problems then I’m sure we can win, but it’s all about attitude towards the game and we need to pick it up from [Everton]."

Saints have already advanced through one qualifying round, having beaten Dutch side Vitesse 5-0 on aggregate - a result set-up by a resounding 3-0 win at home in the first leg.

Long, who scored the third in that contest, is hoping for a similarly successful night at St Mary's tomorrow.

"I’m sure they’ll come here hoping to try and keep a clean sheet and try and see out the game, but we’ve got enough talent going forward to cause them a lot of problems," he said.

"Like Vitesse, keep plugging away and take your chances when they come our way and I suppose after a result like [Saturday] I think everybody will be wanting to put that right and training hard all week and hopefully it starts on Thursday."