Llanelli boss Peter Nicholas says his plans were disrupted

Defender Stuart Jones was a last-minute withdrawal from the Reds' starting line up against SK Vetra in Lithuania as he had not been registered with Uefa.

Reds boss Peter Nicholas rued the error and appeared to blame the FAW as his side lost 3-1 in the first-leg match.

The FAW says Jones was not on a list given to pass on to Uefa, and the Reds admit that it was their job to check.

"Llanelli omitted Jones from the list they submitted to us to forward to Uefa," an FAW spokesman told BBC Sport Wales.

After the game on Sunday, an angry Nicholas had hit out at the blunder that cost him the services of his key defender.

"We registered all players with the FAW, but found out before the game that Stuart couldn't play," Nicholas said.

"So then all my tactics and my team was in disarray as I had to change things."

Worse could have happened if Llanelli officials had not spotted the error.

Stuart Jones was nearly in tears when he found out he couldn't play Llanelli boss Peter Nicholas

Uefa would have had grounds to expel the Reds from the competition if they had fielded an ineligible player, perhaps accompanied by a fine.

"We sign all our players on and then we register them with the Welsh FA, then the Welsh FA register them with Uefa to let them know what squad we're sending to play," Nicholas added.

"But Stuart Jones was left off it and we don't know the reason why.

"The boy was nearly in tears when he found out he couldn't play, it's his ambition to play in Europe and it was nothing of his own fault that he couldn't play.

"Obviously we're disappointed for him but also because it caused us problems on the pitch."