F.C. Copenhagen squad for Zlin clash

F.C. Copenhagen boss Ståle Solbakken named 20 players in his squad to fly out of Denmark to the Czech Republic on Wednesday for the Europa League match with FC Zlin.

A number of FCK’s first-team regulars - including Carlos Zeca, Benjamin Verbic and Nicolai Boilesen - are out of the side.

Youssef Toutouh and Martin Pusic return from injuries, however, while U19 striker Jonas Wind heads out with the group for the first time.

Ståle on selection
And manager Ståle Solbakken insists the Lions squad can cope with Thursday night’s challenge.

"We definitely do not prioritise this match but we can exploit the fact that we have a wide squad,” Ståle said.

“We are in a precarious situation in the league so we need to give a break to players who are physically a little below par.

"Boilesen, has been injured. In Zeca’s case, he has had two hard qualifying matches for Greece and was worn out at the end of the match on Sunday. And Verbic, he has had almost no rest all season, has also played two international matches and lost a bit of explosiveness in Sunday’s game at OB.

Others need to play
"On the other hand, we have others who need to play. Andrija Pavlovic returns for two big games because he has not been able to train well.

“Pusic has just begun training again after his injury. Uros Matic has been working hard for a long time and performed very professionally during a difficult period for him, so Pusic is likely to get a chance now.

"We would like to acknowledge the effort Jonas Wind has made with the U19 team after he was out for four to five months with injury. He has recovered well and has been good at training so that's a signal we would like to send.”

FCK squad:

1 Stephan Andersen
3 Pierre Bengtsson
6 William Kvist
8 Uroš Matić
11 Andrija Pavlović
16 Ján Greguš
17 Kasper Kusk
18 Mads Roerslev
19 Denis Vavro
22 Peter Ankersen
23 Martin Pušić
24 Youssef Toutouh
25 Robin Olsen
26 Carlo Holse
27 Michael Lüftner
28 Pieros Sotiriou
32 Danny Amankwaa
33 Rasmus Falk
41 Kim Christensen
43 Jonas Wind