Burnley manager Sean Dyche was very satisfied with how his side performed in a difficult set of circumstances to earn a goalless draw with Istanbul Basaksehir in the penultimate round of Europa League qualifying.
The Clarets were without key players in Chris Wood, Robbie Brady, Steven Defour, Tom Heaton and, after a late injury, Anders Lindegaard.
Burnley failed to register a shot on target and had only 29% possession, with Dyche admitting they could have been better on the ball, but, partially thanks to new signing Joe Hart, they managed to preserve an important clean sheet.
"Without doubt, that was a hard-earned draw," the manager reflected. "We had to piece together a team and all credit to the players for putting in a shift and delivering.
"We know they [Basaksehir] are a very technical team and the pitch was different, a bit sluggish and hard to work with, so all things considered I am very pleased and proud of the team."
Dyche continued in his praise of his players: "We are missing players at the moment and the players have been in awkward positions, we've had to change the team and play people out of position and they have still given everything to get a result.
"We know we can play with the ball better and control it better, but it's difficult when you come to these places and it’s all new for the players."
Dyche also paid tribute to the 500 travelling supporters, who he says are living the dream.
"There was a different feel in the stadium and our fans were amazing, as they always are," Dyche added.
"They said they wanted a European tour and six years ago when I got here, they weren't thinking of nights like this. I'm not saying I was either, by the way, so these are fantastic days and memories for them."
The right tactics on the night
Away goals are of great value, of course, but Dyche was keen to stress that, often in European football, the away team are forced to be conservative.
"The back four did well and Joe [Hart] has come in out of the blue after Anders went down late, so when you add everything into the melting pot and come here, against a very organised, tactically-sound, hard-working side and get a clean sheet you have to be happy," he explained.
"I said to the lads afterwards that from what we all know of European football, we've seen bigger clubs than us come to places and make sure they go away with a result.
"They don't all go away and try to dominate the ball all the time because it's very difficult.
The Clarets boss concluded: "So, with all those things considered, including travelling to different time zones, training at strange times, then I'm really pleased with the experience and the performance."
Burnley will now face Southampton in their first Premier League game of the season on Sunday before attempting to secure progression into the qualifying playoff round at Turf Moor next Thursday.