Saints boss Harrison 'proud' despite heavy Champions League loss

Craig Harrison returned for a second spell in charge of TNS in August 2022

The New Saints manager Craig Harrison has said he is proud of his players’ efforts despite their heavy Champions League defeat against Ferencvaros.

Harrison’s side were beaten 5-0 in Budapest by the Hungarian champions in the first leg of the second qualifying round on Tuesday.

The Cymru Premier champions conceded three goals inside the opening 24 minutes in what Harrison described as a “tough game”.

“I’d be lying if I wasn’t disappointed but one thing I’m not disappointed with is the attitude and the application that the players gave,” Harrison told BBC Radio Shropshire.

“There was never any doubt that anyone was going to throw the towel in. We stuck together right until the end.

“They [Ferencvaros] are a very good team but I’m proud of our players and the way that they handled themselves, their professionalism and attitude and work ethic.”

Saints’ Jordan Williams struck the crossbar in first-half stoppage time while substitute Declan McManus missed a golden chance to score a late consolation, only to fire straight at Hungary keeper Denes Dibusz.

But Harrison acknowledged that the damage had been done in the opening 30 minutes, in which the hosts had scored three goals.

“The ferocity and intensity that they came out with, it was really tough,” Harrison said.

“You’ve got to give credit where credit is due to a very good team.

“On the flip side I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my players as well because there wasn’t one second of that game where we threw the towel in and gave up.

“We were always in the game working hard, always giving everything and we maybe had a couple of opportunities.”

Saints will host Ferencvaros in the second leg at Park Hall next Tuesday.

While it looks likely to herald the end of Saints’ Champions League adventure for this season, Harrison’s side would then drop into the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage.

“We’ve got to approach the second leg like the first one hasn’t happened,” Harrison said.

“We want to try and win that game - we’ve got a really good record at Park Hall.

“It’s obviously going to be huge to overturn the actual result and get through, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting to win the game on the night.

“Because it puts us in a different place again... not only for co-efficiency points but for confidence moving into the next competition.”