Liam Donnelly laughs off suggestion FC Copenhagen tie is over

The midfielder, 28, has been a mainstay in the Kilmarnock team this year - and he's desperate to turn Thursday night's second-leg around.

It’s not over until the fat lady sings, as the saying goes.

And that’s the mantra Liam Donnelly and his Kilmarnock teammates have going into Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off second-leg against FC Copenhagen.

The Danes lead 2-0 at the halfway stage in the tie after two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game via a highly contentious penalty, and a last-minute strike to break Killie's hearts.

Of course, everyone connected to the club would’ve rather contended with a one-goal deficit as opposed to two, however, that can’t be helped now and the players must now go all out to seal the almost unthinkable prize of league-phase football in UEFA’s third club competition.

“It’s certainly not over,” Donnelly said as he laughed off such suggestions. “No other comments on that. We certainly don’t see it as over, I don’t agree with anybody else saying so.

“Obviously, we were very disappointed with both goals. The soft penalty decision was made for the first, and then, to concede another with just seconds left in the game.

“It makes it more difficult than it being 1-0 heading back to Rugby Park, but we’re still confident taking it back there. We’re really looking forward to it.

“Again, I’ve no idea why some people felt the Tromsø tie was over after the first leg – we certainly didn’t.

“We go into this game with confidence that we’ve got what is needed to get the job done.”

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Killie’s players certainly aren’t used to plying their trade at stadia such as the Parken in the Danish capital, aside from a couple of trips to Parkhead and Ibrox every year.

The huge pitch, the incredibly steep stands, the noisy atmosphere – all these things that aren’t usual factors in Scottish Premiership matches.

The Killie faithful will provide a deafening environment this midweek as they get right behind their team to help push them on to a stunning comeback against Copenhagen. Donnelly wants Killie to use every advantage possible.

He added: “I’m sure it does have an impact physically or mentally. Teams that play regularly on grass probably won’t like it as much coming to play on our pitch.

“It should give us an extra edge as we’re used to training on it. We don’t want teams to come enjoy playing at our place.