Scott Ruscoe: Manager hails 'magnificent' The New Saints after Zilina win

The New Saints will find out their second-round opponents in Monday's draw

Scott Ruscoe praised his The New Saints side for digging deep after they beat MSK Zilina in extra time in Thursday's Europa League first qualifying round.

Louis Robles gave Saints the lead, only for Patrik Myslovic to respond with a penalty for the Slovakian visitors.

But new signing Leo Smith and an Adrian Cieslewicz penalty sealed it in extra time for Saints at Park Hall.

"The 11 who started were magnificent, the subs who came on did everything we wanted them to," Ruscoe said.

"Each one put a shift in and they were first class. I've said to them 'brilliant for getting the win', but what a squad of players we've got here.

"It gives us that hunger, the drive to go and win the [Cymru Premier] league again, the cups and do well in Europe and produce another night like this.

The 13-time Welsh champions, who finished runners up last season in a season cut short due to the coronavirus crisis, now go into Monday's draw for the second qualifying round, along with Welsh rivals Bala Town, who beat Valletta 1-0 on Thursday night in Malta.

Ties are set to be played on 17 September.

"We competed, we created chances - a lot more chances than we normally create in Europe - and if you look at us against a team that's already four games into their league, I just felt we matched them in every department," Ruscoe added.

"From day one in pre-season the lads have had a a hunger and desire, they wanted to work, they wanted to run and it's great when you've got players who want to do the extra bit over and above what you're asking.

"We've had some really good friendlies: we've played Wolves, we've played Liverpool, we've played Tranmere but a lot of the lads haven't been getting 90 minutes... we've had to shuffle to get everyone minutes.

"We gave them a lot of detail about this team we were playing and I always knew we'd be in the game."