Ståle previews Zenit Europa League clash

FC Copenhagen are in St Petersburg for their crunch Europa League Group C clash on Thursday.

A win for the Lions would put them in control of their fate heading into the final fixture of the competition next month.

The players trained in Russia on Thursday night and manager Ståle Solbakken discussed his expectations for the game.

"During periods of struggle we must work hard and be able to withstand Zenit's pressure and keep up with their pace," Ståle said.

"But I also hope for periods when we have the ball and that we can make some chances.

"And we may not get so many, so we must exploit those we receive.

"They will probably have the ball more than us and more chances, but that does not guarantee a win. I hope it will be close and unlikely we can get a good result."

FCK play Bordeaux in their final game of the Group stage in mid-December.

And Ståle is confident the Superliga leaders can get a result in both matches.

"The main thing is to still have something to play for before the last game. But whatever tomorrow's result, I'm happy with our European campaign this autumn," Ståle said.

"There's only one match that did not go as we wanted and it was at home against Slavia Prague.

"They are a team who turned out to be better than everyone thought. But the 'mistake' in the group is that Bordeaux have not taken points off the other teams."