And the performance gave him hope for the second leg in Belgium next week and he believes his side have what it takes to progress to the next round. 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 fro.