BALA Town boss Colin Caton could take plenty of positives from his side’s 1-1 draw at defending champions Connah’s Quay Nomads last weekend, as they prepare to face Belgian giants Standard Leige in the Uefa Europa League on Thursday.

An injury time goal from Sameron Dool denied the Lakesiders all three points in their Cymru Premier curtain-raiser on Saturday, having led from the 21st minute through Nathan Peate’s first half header.

“It was difficult to take, but there were a lot of positives from the game,” commented Caton. “I think we totally dominated the chances, Chris (Venables) has gone through and maybe he should have finished, and on the break we should have killed it off.

“I don’t think Rambo (Alex Ramsay) had a save to make other than the one that’s hit him on the nose, maybe one save apart from that, but a wonder strike has been their only chance in the game.

“So to come here and do that to the champions really shows how far we’ve come.”

Caton’s men now turn their attention to their Uefa Europa League second qualifying round tie at the famous Stade Maurice Dufrasne, having edged past Valletta 1-0 in Malta three weeks ago.

A Chris Venables goal and an Alex Ramsay penalty save had secured the Lakesiders their first ever away win in European competition, but their next opponents pose a huge challenge.

The club finished fifth in the Belgian Pro League division one last season, and they are currently placed third in the 2020/21 campaign, after five matches played this season.

Bala face a mammoth task against the former 10-time Belgian champions, who have also won the Belgian Cup on eight occasions, and reached the finals of the Uefa Cup Winners Cup and Intertoto Cup in the past.

“Winning out in Malta and taking this team through to the next round of the Europa League is the biggest achievement of my career and for Bala and for everybody involved,” said Caton after the win.

“You could see the spirit out in Malta, the team ran their socks off to win in really high temperatures. I can’t praise them highly enough for what they have achieved.

“Standard Liege will be a difficult tie, but a dream tie and in a fantastic stadium.

“They are a Champions League team at the end of the day and they’re currently high up in their league table, so we will set ourselves up properly like we did for Valletta and once again we will try to cause a major upset.

“Moving the game to Belgium was the right decision, and playing in a stadium of that size will be an amazing experience for the players, but we’re also sad again that the fans cannot be there.”

A live stream of the match will be shown on the Sgorio Facebook page and on S4C Clic, from 6.55pm. With the structure of the competition having changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tie is a one-off match rather than over two-legs, with the winners then progressing to face Serbian side FK Vojvodina.