Degenek, 24, joined the Serbian champions from Yokohama F. Marinos earlier this month.

The Socceroo slotted into the Red Star backline from the start on Wednesday morning (AEST) as Red Star won 2-0 over Latvian champions Spartak Jurmala.

The result secured Red Star a 2-0 aggregate victory, meaning they move into the second qualifying round where they'll face Lithuanian champions FK Suduva.

Suduva qualified after knocking off Tommy Oar's APOEL Nicosia 3-2 on aggregate. Oar did not play in the Wednesday morning's second leg where APOEL won 1-0.

The Lithuanians have an Australian goalkeeper Evan Ridley on their books and he was an unused sub.

Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Tom Rogic will be absent after World Cup duty as Celtic look to seal a spot in the second qualifying round when they face Armenian champions Alashkert on Thursday morning (AEST). Celtic won the first leg in Armenia 3-0.

Alex Gersbach's Rosenborg will look to bounce back on Thursday morning (AEST) after a 1-0 away first leg defeat to Icelandic champions Valur.