Cercle Bruges are “ready” for “another battle” with Kilmarnock and head coach Miron Muslic thinks it will be his side’s turn to take advantage of their home pitch in the second leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie.
The Scottish Premiership side came from a goal behind to draw 1-1 on an artificial surface Muslic described as “very bad” ahead of kick-off.
“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,” the Austrian said.
“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.”
Muslic had “expected a fight”, strong backing for the home side from the stands and rival boss Derek McInnes’ direct tactics.
“It’s not easy playing in such a hostile environment – in a beautiful way of course,” he added. “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.”
Cercle Bruges,Scottish Premiership,Miron Muslic,Kilmarnock,Europa League
