Stoke City boss Tony Pulis says they'll embrace their Europa League campaign.
The Potters landed in Ukraine on Wednesday ahead of Thursday night's Group E opener against Dynamo Kiev.
The Staffordshire outfit - who are taking part in major European competition for the first time in 37 years - also face trips to Israel to play Maccabi Tel Aviv and Turkey to take on Besiktas.
That will require the team to clock up far more miles than manager Pulis would like, but the Welshman is determined Stoke will embrace the task of balancing their European commitments with their domestic campaign.
"Someone asked me if I'm excited about being in Europe - I don't think we are in Europe if you look at the teams we are playing!" Pulis said.
"We are in Ukraine, Israel and Turkey. We got the short straw and the travelling distances are horrendous but we are looking forward to it.
"We have to manage the squad; there were some good players not in the team on Saturday [for the Barclays Premier League victory over Liverpool] who will get a chance to show what they can do.
"We play Kiev on Thursday, Sunderland on Sunday, Tottenham on Tuesday [in the Carling Cup] and Manchester United on Saturday - it's not a bad run of games but it is a big call for the next couple of weeks.
"It is what everyone aspires to and we have to cope with, but it is new to us."
