Source: Team_Talk
Kenneth confident despite defeat
Dundee United defender Garry Kenneth thinks his side still have a great chance to progress into the Europa League group stages.[LNB] The Scotland international was unable to prevent his side going down 1-0 at home to AEK Athens but he believes it would be foolish to write off the Dundee side's chances of progressing.[LNB]"Is that us out the tie? Not a chance," he said.[LNB]"I think we still have a great chance of going through. We will go there to pass the ball and try to sneak a goal.[LNB]"I think we gave them too much respect in the first 15 minutes and we never passed the ball like we usually do.[LNB]"The occasion may have got to the team as a whole at the start but we got to half time only 1-0 down, knowing we hadn't played well.[LNB]"We had to go out and have a go in the second half and I thought we did that. I actually thought we were the better team.[LNB]"I think they only had two shots on target the whole night and scored with one of them."[LNB]Kenneth featured for Craig Levein's Scotland in their 3-0 friendly defeat to Sweden earlier this month and the defender felt that helped him adjust to the demands of European football.[LNB]"Playing in Europe is completely different than playing for Scotland but getting that experience for Scotland just before this game has benefited me," he said.[LNB]"However nothing can really prepare you for going from domestic level to European level.[LNB]"I think all of the lads will have learned a lot from the match. We had chances and sometimes instead of taking a shot we were looking for the killer pass.[LNB]"We go over there still with a great chance of going through. One goal could take us into extra time and then you never know what can happen.[LNB]"As long as we shut the door then I think we have a chance."[LNB]The 23-year-old said he is looking forward to playing in AEK Athens' notoriously hostile Olympic Stadium when the sides meet in the return leg in Greece next week.[LNB]He added: "I don't think I have ever played in such a hostile place as Athens is supposed to be. I have played against some great teams though and I'm sure this will be another good experience for me.[LNB]"It will be a massive game and we need to go there and give it our best shot."[LNB]AEK Athens manager Dusan Bajevic believes his side should have won by an even greater margin after Rafik Djebbour scored the only goal of the game in the 11th minute.[LNB]"The early goal gave us a boost but after that we created two or three chances and we could have scored more," he said.[LNB]"However, I didn't think it was a very comfortable victory as Dundee United were strong and tried until the last minute."[LNB]
