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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

Dynamo Kyiv manager puts Rangers draw down to ‘lack of experience at this level’

Dynamo Kyiv manager Oleksandr Shovkovskyi expressed his sheer disappointment following Rangers' last-minute equaliser on Tuesday night. 

The Ukrainian coach wasn’t afraid to criticise his team's naivety after they allowed Cyriel Dessers to score with the final kick of the match in their Champions League qualifying round three first leg. 

Andriy Yarmolenko had put the home side ahead during a fiercely contested first half, but Rangers managed to snatch a draw with Dessers' well-taken effort just as the referee looked ready to blow the final whistle.

It was a tale of two very different emotions at full-time despite both teams being still very much in with a chance of progressing to the play-offs next Tuesday evening.

It’s a rare occasion where the pair are currently playing home matches outwith their usual stadium. Dynamo Kyiv hosted the first leg in the Polish city of Lublin, meanwhile Ibrox is unavailable for the foreseeable future, so Rangers will have to get used to making Hampden Park a fortress.

Shovkovskyi emphasised that the absence of a true home advantage for Rangers in the second leg at Scotland’s national stadium will not ease the challenge for his team in Glasgow - and he reckons that even if Dessers hadn’t found the net, the tie was always going to be settled next week.


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“Of course it was disappointing to lose a late goal but we knew the tie would be decided in Glasgow,” the Dynamo Kyiv head coach admitted. 

"The two teams played good football and we tried to keep the result, hoping for fast counter attacks.

"We had to be more calm at the end, with more confidence. We’ll look at that and try to improve for next week.

"We haven’t played a lot of matches at this level, we don’t have much experience of it.

"That influenced the result. 

"I don’t think the game being at Hampden will help us because the majority of supporters will be there for Rangers."

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