Wary Kaunas keep celebrations in check

FBK Kaunas coach José Couceiro warned that Rangers FC's greater European experience could yet make the difference after his side had earned an impressive goalless draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie at Ibrox on Wednesday.

'Very difficult'
Last season's UEFA Cup finalists created a number of opportunities but could not convert them against a spirited Kaunas side that will now look ahead to next week's second leg in Lithuania with confidence. Couceiro, though, knows there is still plenty of hard work ahead. "This is a normal European situation for Rangers," the Portuguese coach said. "I know they had 0-0 draws at Ibrox several times last season and still went on to win the tie, so the second leg is very difficult for us.

Rangers favourites
"Rangers are still favourites, but nothing is impossible. The key of the tie is our inexperience. In the second leg, the team who has more experience will have the advantage in the final 20 minutes. We had luck in the last 20 minutes and we will need the same next week. After about 75 minutes, my team were physically gone but that is normal." Both Kenny Miller and Jean-Claude Darcheville had chances cleared off the line by the Kaunas captain and former Heart of Midlothian FC defender Tomas Kančelskis, whose fine individual performance won praise from his coach. "He is a very good captain and a great example to the rest of our players," Couceiro said.

'Tough night'
Rangers manager Walter Smith admitted it had been a "a tough night" for the Glasgow side. "Kaunas set their stall out and made it difficult for us," he said. "They restricted us to a few opportunities. We weren't at our sharpest especially at the start of the game. Our best spell was the 15 minutes before half-time when we upped the tempo of the game and put them under a bit of pressure. We had two good chances and two or three half chances during that spell. In the second half Kaunas went back and it was always going to be a very difficult task to open them up."

Confident
Smith, whose side were beaten by FC Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final in May having earlier played in the UEFA Champions League group stage, remains positive. "I feel we are capable of winning the game over there although I don't think we should keep looking back to what happened last season," Smith said. "That's finished with now. We have to make sure we look forward although we are perhaps missing a bit of sharpness we had last season. But I am sure when the game comes around next week we'll be better placed than we were this evening."