Rafik Djebbour's 11th-minute strike was enough to give the visitors the upper hand and a precious away goal but the United manager says his side are capable of pulling off a shock in the return leg in Athens next week.

He said: "We have to remember it is only 1-0. If you are going to ask me if we are out of the tie I would say no.

"I think it will be a hugely tall order to go through from here but stranger things have happened and it will only take one goal to get back to the tie."

The United manager felt that his side's below-par performance was caused by the nerves of playing on such a big occasion.

He added: "I can't fault my players for effort or desire. We played against a very good and experienced European team.

"I think we are a good passing side and the biggest disappointment for me was that we gave away the ball too cheaply.

"I felt in the first half that was down to nerves. But take nothing away from AEK as they use the ball well.

"We will have learned more from tonight's match than any SPL game.

"I went into the game with only Sean Dillon and Dusan Pernis who had played in Europe so we will have learned a lot."

The United manager said his players would be strong enough to deal with the hostile atmosphere that awaits them in Greece next week.

"I've never been to Greece before but we know when we go over there we will have to be organised," he said.

"The stadium looks magnificent when it is full - I don't know what it will be like on the night, but if we go there and work as hard as we did tonight but pass the ball better who knows what will happen.

"We are going to have to defend more as I didn't think they created that many chances tonight.

"We had a great chance at the end with Jon Daly but he didn't realise he had an extra second or two and slid it past the post.

"That would have got us back in the game but even at 1-1 we would still have had to score over there."

AEK Athens manager Dusan Bajevic was delighted that his side managed to gain the initiative in the tie.

He said: "I'm very pleased and very happy with the result.

"We still have the return leg to think about and we will need to be serious about that one as Dundee United will have nothing to lose.

"I expect Dundee United to be stronger and better in the next game.

"We already have achieved a good result but I also expect my team to play better in the second game."