Svensson: A tough game vs Plzen but many positives to take away

Bo Svensson says Tuesday's 1-1 friendly draw with Viktoria Plzen in Austria was tough on the players in hot conditions, but that there was plenty to take from the performance.

William Clem scored FCK's leveller soon after the break as the Lions make wholesale changes at half time and midway through the second half.

The game was the first team's sole friendly in Austria, with the players and coaching staff now returning home to Copenhagen to continue preparations for the new Superliga season.

And Svensson says there was plenty to take away from the encounter.

"It was a tough game," he says. "When you've been in many training camps where you play a game on the last day before the trip home, you know that it's often difficult.

"I think we did well at times, but we also made some big mistakes and gave away a goal through a huge mistake. We want to get that out of the game.

"But I also think we created some really good chances, and I think the young guys did really well today. So all in all, there are a lot of positive things to take away. It was important that we didn't lose, and we also avoided getting injuries."

Svensson adds that because a number of younger players got minutes from the bench in the second half, it naturally required a change of system after half time.

"We switched to playing with three centre-backs and two wing-backs after the break, because we only had 20 outfield players available today," says Svensson. "So instead of putting Henrik (Haraldsen) or Graham (Ankamafio) in completely different positions, we tried to play with a three-man defence.

"It also went well, I think that for a long time in the second half we had a good grip on the game and were the better team, and it was also during that period that we scored our goal and had a few more chances. In the last quarter of an hour they put us under quite a bit of pressure, but we resisted that."

The squad will fly home to Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon and have a day off on Thursday. After that, there is training on Friday at Number 10, before things get going again with a friendly against AC Horsens on Saturday at 1pm. You can also watch it in the FCK app and on tv.fck.dk if you have an FCK+ subscription.