Jim Goodwin hailed his “gutsy” Dundee United side after they twice fought back to claim an impressive draw against Rapid Vienna in Austria.
Zac Sapsford’s 75th-minute strike earned United a 2-2 draw in the Austrian capital to keep the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie in the balance ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at Tannadice.
The Australian earlier created a first-half equaliser for a United side who saw Isaac Pappoe carried off on a stretcher with a knee problem early in the game after being hit with bad news about the hamstring injuries of Ryan Strain and Kristijan Trapanovski in the build-up to the game.
United survived some late scares – including a disallowed goal in stoppage-time – to keep the tie level against Rapid, who reached the quarter-finals of the same tournament last season.
Goodwin told BBC Scotland: “It was very nervy at the end. The team was running on empty.
“Given the situation with the squad, we don’t have the options available to us to freshen things up, but I thought it was a really gutsy performance from the team.
“We showed real courage and togetherness within the group to just put bodies on the line and try and take a positive result back to Dundee with us.
“It was a really enjoyable performance, I really enjoyed the occasion. The Dundee United supporters were excellent and I’m pleased we were able to put on a performance they can be proud of.”
