Serero's Ajax now shift sights to Europa League

THULANI Serero will be hoping to extend his European adventure further this season when his Ajax Amsterdam side host Cypriot outfit Apoel in the Champions League tonight.

Serero and company need a point from the fixture to finish their pool in third, which would see them drop into the Europa League competition.

With Paris St Germain and Barcelona forging ahead in the group, Ajax's chances of progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League are long gone, but Europe's secondary competition provides a big carrot to do well tonight.

Ajax have yet to win a match in their pool this year but can go out with a bang against the limited Cypriots. The teams drew the reverse fixture in Cyprus 1-1 in September when Serero missed a superb opportunity to grab a late winner.

Meanwhile, the pool phase of the Europa League comes to an end tomorrow with most questions already answered.

Steven Pienaar is likely to get a run for Everton in their game against Russian side Kubin Krasnodar, with the Merseyside club already assured of top spot in the pool. Manager Roberto Martinez therefore has the perfect opportunity to use his fringe players, of which Pienaar is now one, with a busy Premiership programme over the festive season.

Ayanda Patosi should also feature for Belgian side Lokeren as they look to finish on a high at Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv.

Lokeren cannot qualify for the next stage as the best they can do is match Turkish side Trabzonspor's points haul, but would still miss out on the head-to-head rule.

And Bongani Khumalo, now fit again after nine months on the sidelines, is unlikely to be seen as Tottenham Hotspur look to ensure they finish top of the pool when they make the difficult trip to Turkey to play Besiktas. A draw would do it and it would mean that Spurs avoid one of the top teams that drop down from the Champions League in the knockout stages of the Europa League.