Dundalk defender Brian Gartland: 'It's not a nice feeling.'

By Caoimhin Reilly in St Petersburg

“We’re disappointed, when you give goals away at that level, the first goal was sloppy by me and I’m gutted but that’s football and it happens. It’s horrible, it’s not a nice feeling.”

The feelings of Dundalk centre-back Brian Gartland outside the Petrovsky Stadium last night.

The defender was superb, like they all were, on the night, especially after half-time when Zenit began to turn the screw. Unfortunately for the Dubliner, though, the night will always be tinged in regret for him.

Generally so assured on the ball, Gartland was dispossessed by Aleksandr Kerzhakov with the ball getting stuck under his feet and within ten seconds Giuliano had scored the opener for Zenit.

Operating at such a high standard doesn’t allow for individual errors, as the Dundalk players have found out in three of their four group games so far and Gartland acknowledges that.

“We have shown that we can play at this level but it showed that you get punished for making mistakes and we need to cut them out.

“AZ at home is a massive game now and we need to prepare for that now after the cup final.”

Yet again Dundalk are rightly receiving plaudits from every media outlet across Europe as their incredible story continues to dominate the back pages.

However, Gartland doesn’t like the idea of moral victories despite Zenit coach Mircea Lucescu calling the Lilywhites 'the best team' that they have faced.

“We’re not here and dreaming. We have worked very hard to get here and we can’t be in awe of the opposition.

“We just need to go out there and play our game. We had good possession tonight going forward in the first half and I thought that we played better in the second-half.

“We see tonight why Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle are involved (in the Irish squad). They were excellent but there are plenty more players that showed their discipline and technical ability. It’s a team effort and we have to bounce back tomorrow because we have to get over this now and move on.

“We’re used to the quick turnaround,” said Gartland, looking ahead to the FAI Cup final against Cork on Sunday, “but the travelling, I suppose, makes it a bit different but we’ll do a cool down in the morning and be ready for Sunday.”