Roland: - It's always a hard task

14/09 2011 17:35

Head coach Roland Nilsson was the focus of Wednesday’s press conference in PARKEN, as FC Copenhagen trained in front of the media ahead of their UEFA Europa League group stage match against FC Vorskla Poltava tomorrow evening.

Accompanied by FCK goalkeeper Johan Wiland, Nilsson outlined his thoughts ahead of the game tomorrow, and on European competition in general:

- I think it will be a tough game tomorrow, but with the matches we’ve already had in Europe this season we can see that we are starting to improve our style of play.

- Of course we wanted to play in the Champions League, but we’re not there and all our focus is now on the Europa League. These are still difficult international games after all. Of course we won’t play the biggest teams in Europe, but in the Europa League you still face very good sides.

Asked his opinion on Copenhagen’s opposition tomorrow night, Nilsson explained how the club’s scouting network has been used to gain knowledge of the Ukrainian side:

- We have looked at as many games as we could: at who they have played in the league and in Europe. We have information from that, but we’ve also had Martin Pringle, the assistant coach, fly down to the Ukraine to watch the team live. So we have very good information about Vorskla.

- Our tactic is to focus on the whole opposition, not just one player. We expect Vorskla to come out and do very well, and if we just target one player the rest of the side will benefit from our focus. So, what we are looking for is to be aware of dangers all over, not just in one place.

Asked how a competing side succeeds in Europe, Nilsson had this to say:

- You have to have a good offensive force, but also have to defend well. A mistake made in Europe usually costs you. Of course our aim is to qualify through the group stage. We know it’s always a hard task, but that is our aim for the time being. Hopefully we can achieve that.