WARSAW: Russia star midfielder Alan Dzagoev believes they should have triumphed over co-hosts Poland after the two teams played out to a thrilling 1-1 draw in a Group A clash this morning.

Dzagoev headed home skipper Andriy Shevchenko's freekick in the first half to give the Russians the lead against the run of play. But midway through the second half, Poland's Jakub Blaszczykowski executed a stunning strike to earn a deserved point for his side.

And the 21-year-old Dzagoev was disappointed that he and his teammates could not secure their place in the quarter-finals after wasting several chances.

"We should have won today and fulfilled our aim of getting through to the quarter-finals but it didn't work out like that. Now we have a game with Greece ahead and we need to be ready for that," he told Rossiya TV 2 Channel.

Dzagoev has been a revelation in attack for the Russians, with three goals so far in the tournament and admitted he was not supposed to be so far up the field for the set-piece.

"There was nothing special in the first half apart from the goal. In principal, I generally shouldn't go into the penalty area but stand on the edge. But I noticed that Arshavin often hits it there and decided to go in," he said.

Russia now face Greece in their final game in group match will book their quarter-final berth with a draw against Fernando Santos' team, who are bottom of the section after losing 2-1 to Czech Republic in an earlier match this morning.

Arshavin blamed tiredness for his side's inability to seal all three points against Poland.

He believes Russia were too fatigued to force the issue against Franciszek Smuda's side which he admits was frustrating and allowed the co-hosts back into the game.

"We played very open football in the second half which gave the Poland players an opportunity to play on the counter and they took advantage of that," he said.

"We were a little bit tired and not able to apply the pressure we wanted."

-mD