Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes felt his side would have beaten Cercle Brugge if their Europa League qualifier had lasted another five minutes as a strong finish gave him hope for the second leg in Belgium.
Killie sparked into life soon after Kazeem Olaigbe gave the visitors the lead in the 55th minute and threatened time after time from set-pieces.
David Watson got the final touch from a long throw to level in the 70th minute and Kyle Vassell headed off a post before substitute Fraser Murray twice came close in stoppage time of the 1-1 draw at Rugby Park.
McInnes said: “You always remember how the game finishes and I think we finished the stronger team. I think there’s reasons for that, we made the substitutes at the right time. You know the tie is 180 minutes, we resisted the temptation to go with two strikers.
“It wasn’t straightforward and we had to be constantly on our toes for the transition. They are the team who scored the most goals on counter-attacks in the Belgian league last year and you can see why – they’ve got a lot of speed in the team and sometimes you’ve got to be a bit canny with our work.
“I thought we got the balance just about right and unfortunately we haven’t won the game.
“Another five minutes or so we could have maybe gone on to win it just with the pressure. I think you’ve got to compliment Brugge for standing up to that pressure and the goalkeeper makes a brilliant save.
“We’re not brilliant all the time but we are 10 out 10 for commitment and heart. We drive big performances from ourselves and I thought the game was untidy at times, it was messy, it was scrappy, it was full-blooded challenges and a lot of duels and a lot of competitiveness, but we showed that we can compete with a good side.”
McInnes, whose side will be backed by 2,500 fans in Belgium next week, added: “We’re there to win it. We have to take the belief from tonight, take the fitness, we’ll have Marley Watkins back available to us, which I think will help us, our top goalscorer.
“I believe it’s a tie that’s in the balance. Cercle Brugge were favourites because they are the seeded team, they trade at a different level from us, so of course they are favourites to get through but I wouldn’t say they were more favourites than they were before the first game.”
Cercle head coach Miron Muslic was happy to leave Ayrshire with a draw.
“We expected a fight,” he said. “We knew Kilmarnock would try to take the advantage from the pitch and the fantastic atmosphere but I’m really happy with how we faced this.
“It’s not easy playing in such a hostile environment – in a beautiful way of course. It’s not easy defending long ball after long ball, set-piece after set-piece. We picked up the fight.
“It was a ping-pong game and it was hard to get the ball on the ground but we showed the offensive threat we have.
“It’s impossible to defend 50-60 long balls and Kilmarnock turned this game into their advantage.
“We will do the same next Thursday, we will use our pitch, our stadium. It’s a good result and we have everything in our hands. It will be another battle but we are ready for this.”
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