Derek McInnes believes Kilmarnock’s experience against Cercle Brugge will stand them in good stead to prolong their European adventure by defeating Norwegian strugglers Tromso.
The Ayrshire side dropped into the third qualifying round of the Conference League after losing 2-1 to the Belgians in a closely-contested Europa League second qualifying round tie.
Having pushed Brugge to the wire, McInnes feels his team should be optimistic about their chances of making it through to the play-off round against a team currently two points off the bottom of the Norwegian Eliteserien.
“We’re up against a team who will have similar aspirations to us to get through the tie,” said the Killie boss. “We believe can get through it and I’m sure Tromso will be thinking the same.
“Cercle Brugge are a level above, I think they’ll do alright in the Europa League. Maybe we’re not quite ready for the Europa League, but we’re in the Conference League now and we’re against a team we feel we can beat.
“Some of my players said to me last week was the first time they’ve ever been abroad preparing for a game so it was different for a lot of them. We needed to be slightly better in attacking areas to beat a team of Brugge’s quality.
“But I think having had those two games will help us because the one big advantage Tromso have over us is that they’re well into their campaign.
“I just want the players to concentrate on giving their best performance individually and if we get anywhere near our best team performance, we believe it’s a tie we can win.”
McInnes is refusing to read much into the fact Tromso languish 13th in the 16-team Eliteserien.
“On my first viewing, they look a good side,” he said. “Last season was a fantastic one for them, hence why they’re in Europe.
“They may have had a slow start for whatever reason but they seem to have picked up a wee bit.
“They’re the polar opposite to Cercle Brugge, who were very direct with their play and wanted to play in the opposition half quickly and pressed you high.
“Tromso are more of a possession-based team who want you to bring you on to them and play on transitions and counters. They’re a totally different kettle of fish to what we had last time out.”
McInnes is desperate to see his side get past Tromso and set up a play-off round tie against FC Copenhagen of Denmark or Czech outfit Banik Ostrava.
“I want this to be a regular thing for us and I want it to be more regular this season,” he said of the European experience. “We don’t want this to be our last European home game this season.
“There’s a brilliant tie for the winners of this tie, a really attractive play-off tie, but to get there we need two big performances.”
Killie welcome back Robbie Deas and Joe Wright, while Marley Watkins is also in contention to return, but Kyle Magennis and Corrie Ndaba are still out injured.
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