Hull City boss Steve Bruce admitted relief after overcoming AC Trencin in their Europa League qualifier. In front of a roaring crowd at the KC, Trencin took the lead through Tomas Malec inside two minutes to seriously endanger the Tigers' chances.
Ahmed Elmohamady headed an equaliser on the half-hour mark and, just when it looked like Trencin would succeed thanks to the away goals rule, Sone Aluko climbed off the bench to prod home an 80th-minute winner.
"You're always worried when there's 15 minutes to go and you're thinking about all the hype and euphoria, but you're about to fall at the first hurdle," he said.
"But we've stuck at it and, not for the first time, we've seen them do it.
"It's been difficult but we've got through it and let's enjoy the draw tomorrow."
Bruce has warned his players they need to start putting their chances away against the heavyweights of Europe.
"I think that's the biggest lesson," he added. "Playing in the Premier League's the same, and when you play in Europe you don't get that many.
"To be fair we've missed three or four glorious chances and thought we weren't going to get it.
"We made an awful start and that put everyone on edge for 20 minutes, not just the players, but the crowd, who I think were fantastic.
"There was a frustration there but thankfully we've seen it through."
