Thorup: We're back and ready to go

F.C. Copenhagen players returned to training to prepare for the 2021/22 3F Superliga season on Friday after a brief summer break.

And FCK head coach Jess Thorup was there to welcome the troops back to Number 10.

"It's great to see the players again," said Thorup, who will be without players competing at EURO2020 for a few more weeks.

"After last season, I think we all enjoyed the break that has been, but we're also enjoying being back again.

"We have spent a lot of time digging deeper into our analyses of the past season, but we have also must look ahead. We cannot wait to get started again with a new season, where we start afresh with a good feeling after we finished strongly last term.

"Everyone has returned with a mindset that we are looking forward to getting started, so we are ready to take action. Today we're mostly doing tests and then it's time to hit the grass tomorrow."

>> F.C. Copenhagen 2021/22 pre-season programme

FCK's opening Superliga fixture for the season is at home to AaB on Sunday 18 July, while the Lions are also competing in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying this summer.

"From her we start working towards the start of the season, where we begin with a tight programme with AaB, European qualification and Silkeborg in one week, and we hopefully look forward to an autumn with lots of matches as we progress in other tournaments.

"Therefore we have to get ready for it now and we are going into four really, really tough weeks for the players. It will be a challenging period but we have to raise the bar and we must use that base in the following months with many matches to come. It will be important that we do well from the start so that we are ready.

Build on a strong end to last season
"We will also work on tactics and find the thread we had at the end of the season, where we had a strong final few rounds. We must build on that and do even better.

"At the same time, there is an open transfer window that PC is working in, so there are many things going on. We have high expectations of ourselves to win the Danish championship again, and therefore the work is already well underway."

Season premiere July 18th
The first match of the new 3F Superliga season is against AaB in Parken on Sunday 18 July at 16.00

You can secure a place for the game and upcoming matches with a season ticket or subscription here.