Svensson: Heat will be a factor in Debrecen
The F.C. Copenhagen players got a taste of the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen on Wednesday ahead of tonight's UEFA Conference League qualifier with Debreceni – and head coach Bo Svensson admits the conditions will make for a tough encounter.
The players arrived on Wednesday afternoon, having trained at Number 10 earlier that day, and it was still close to 40c at pitch level after Debreceni VSC had finished their training session.
"When we entered the stadium here at 6pm, an hour earlier than we play tomorrow, I was happy that there will be shade while the match is being played. That's a big factor, because if we had to play in the scorching sun, it would have been really ugly," says Svensson.
"So that's at least something we can be happy about, but it's incredibly hot. So it's of course a factor in how the match is played, and also in terms of the tactics that have to be put in place."
Discussing the expectations of his players heading into Thursday's encounter, Svensson adds: "They are a team that changed coaches over the summer, and they have also changed their style a bit. They played a really good season last year and then had a bit of a difficult start to this season with two defeats in the league.
"But they have a couple of experienced players, Dzudczak and Adam Lang, and have some good wingers. They are a stable team, which of course also comes with some things that they are struggling with, because otherwise things would not have gone like this in the league. We will try to take advantage of that, but we are well aware that under these conditions with the high temperatures, it will not be an easy task.
"It will be decided over 180 minutes as always, but it is important that we can make a good start to the game and put ourselves in a good position for the second leg. We have respect for the opponent, and we also saw in our first game against Polissya that even though we knew they were a good team, they were even better when we met them. Debrecen are also a good team, so we will not be surprised, and we are generally ready."
New arrival Ákos Markgráf is in Hungary, having left the country only a few days ago to go to Copenhagen and sign a contract with the Lions, and he is ready to play if he gets the chance.
"It will of course be a bit of a baptism of fire if he plays from the start, but he knows the conditions and he knows the opponents very well," says Svensson.
"And even though he is a young player, he has a lot of matches under his belt, so we are happy to have the extra member in the squad. We will have to see how much playing time it will be."
You can live stream Debreceni VSC vs F.C. Copenhagen on FCK TV via the FCK app or tv.fck.dk, so long as you have a season ticket or ticket subscription, or subscribe to FCK+.
