Chairman Mike Harris had offered to face Liverpool in a lucrative play-off for the place, however, that was angrily rejected by the FAW, while Liverpool were granted a place by UEFA, who were faced with the prospect of the having the Champions not defend their title.
Should TNS be drawn against Liverpool in the Friday draw, they would seek to play their "home" tie at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Liverpool themselves are believed to prefer a draw against TNS, Glentoran or even Sliema Wanderers of Malta - with minimum travel required as opposed to potential nightmare trips to eastern Europe.
The other teams they could face in the first round are: FK Rabotnicki (
Harris said: "There are pros and cons to meeting
"Clearly it would be a fantastic draw in terms of gate receipts and the interest in the tie would be enormous.
"If we took the game to the Millennium Stadium, we would get a bumper crowd.
"It would be
"On the other hand, meeting the European champions means it would be difficult for us to proceed to the next stage.
"There are four or five other clubs we could meet whom I'm convinced we could compete with on an even keel in the early stages of the competition.
"I'm sure Liverpool would prefer to meet us, than some of the east European teams they might draw.
"But part of the glamour and fun of this competition is the travelling.
"So, much as we want Liverpool, we would be happy whoever we met, apart perhaps from Dinamo Tblisi.'