KuPS, who pay the wages of central midfielder Paul Obiefule, may be languishing at the  bottom of the table in Finland's top division, but are experiencing different fortunes in  the UEFA Europa League.

The club has scaled the hurdle of Romanian team Gaz Metan Mediaş, Llanelli (Wales) and  Maccabi Netanya (Israel). KuPS' credentials will be fully tested in the next round of the competition on Thursday when they face Bursaspor, Turkey.

Paul Obiefule, 26 years, is optimistic that the Canaries can continue their fairytale run and qualify for the group stages of the competition.

''It feels good to be playing in a European club competition. We are also doing well after our progress to the third qualifying  round. Against Bursaspor next week, this is certainly  not the end of the road for us. When KuPS played Maccabi Netanya in the previous round, we did not think of qualification, but we gave it a shot. And we will face Bursaspor with the same spirit. It would be great if we can play in the group stage of this competition,'' says  the former Lyn Oslo star to allnigeriasoccer.com.

In the winter transfer market, Paul Obiefule was on the brink of joining Tianjin Teda FC, but the Chinese club failed to honor the preliminary agreement reached with the Nigerian due to a change in coaching staff.