PSV's Berg frustrated but unperturbed

PSV Eindhoven forward Marcus Berg remained upbeat despite a goalless draw against Rangers FC which leaves their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie in the balance.

The home side had the better of the chances but were unable to find the net and therefore remain without a victory against Scottish opposition in European competition – a jinx which began in the 1978/79 European Champion Clubs' Cup, when Rangers prevailed 3-2 to end PSV's 29-game unbeaten home run in Europe.

Though Rangers are again likely to be the happier of the two teams following Thursday's opening instalment, Berg is unconcerned. "We managed to create a few chances, probably more than we expected, despite their tactics," he said. "Obviously it's tough when you come up against three central defenders, but overall I felt we played OK. I still think we'll go through – if we carve out as many openings in Glasgow as we did tonight then we should score. They only had one chance after all."

That opportunity fell to on-loan defender Kyle Bartley, whose second-half header was well parried by Andreas Isaksson. "I actually thought it was in, I was already off celebrating," said the 19-year-old Arsenal FC man. Bartley, like Berg, has high hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals. "I think a draw away from home at PSV is a good result," he added. "We came to make sure we didn't concede, and now taking them back to Ibrox we're confident we can win the next game."

Walter Smith's side are unlikely to place such emphasis on stifling their opponents on home soil, an approach adopted at the PSV Stadion which placed the onus firmly on Fred Rutten's team. "We managed to do that, we made three or four decent chances," said PSV captain Orlando Engelaar. "We're disappointed and frustrated that we didn't win, but in Glasgow hopefully we'll get more space because they'll want to please the home crowd."

Rangers defender Steven Whittaker, however, hinted that he and his team-mates were unlikely to throw caution to the wind. "PSV are a good technical side and keep the ball really well," he said. "Hopefully at Ibrox we can ask more questions of them, although we'll obviously still try and keep it tight."