Hamrun Spartans will be hosting Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk in match day 6 of the UEFA Conference League league stage at the National Stadium on Thursday, kick-off at 21:00.

The Spartans will be aiming to continue to build on the positive result and performance which saw them earn their first three points as they came from behind to beat Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar 3-1 in their last outing.

Although it is clear that Shakhtar Donetsk are a much stronger side, Giacomo Modica’s side will be aiming at another good performance and possibly another positive result after two good performances in the first two matches which saw them lose narrowly to Jagiellonia and Lausanne-Sport and the defeat to Samsunspor.

Winners of the UEFA Cup in 2008/09, Shakthar Donetsk are taking part in the UEFA Conference League for the first time after they were eliminated from the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round by Panathianaikos on penalties following two goalless draws after eliminating Ilves Tampere and Besiktas in the previous rounds. In the UEFA Conference League play-off round, they defeated Servette with a 3-2 aggregate score. Last season, they made it to the league stage of the UEFA Champions League, finishing 27th with seven points from eight matches.

After match-day 4, Shakhtar Donetsk are currently joint-third in the UEFA Conference League, one point behind Samsunspor and Strasbourg after earning nine points. They defeated Aberdeen 3-2 away from home and after losing to Legia Warszawa 1-2 in their current home venue in Krakow, Poland, they defeated Breidablik 2-0 in Krakow and Shamrock Rovers 2-1 away from home.

Shakhtar Donetsk, who are currently ranked 53 in Europe, met Birkirkara in the UEFA Cup in 1998, beating them 2-1 and 4-0.

In the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar are currently joint-leaders with LNZ Cherkasy with 32 points from 15 matches.