"It's the last act for this year, and of course we want to do it successfully. It's also no secret that we've been dragging ourselves through the season in terms of the squad in recent weeks. It was very important for us to have another week in which we could work in a concentrated manner, which gives us the opportunity to go into Sunday's match much fresher," explained Manfred Schmid.

The Violets (7th) are only one point behind fourth place after 15 rounds despite minus three points, six behind third. With a home win against Wolfsberger AC, Austria could put itself in a very good position for the spring, starting in early February, the last six rounds of the basic round will be played:

"We have brought many good performances in the fall - of course, there were also disappointments, but we are in a development. I am impressed by the inner strength that comes from the team. Together with all the coaches, support staff and the entire club, we have already achieved a lot in the last year and a half. I think it's outstanding how the team sticks together and deals with each other," emphasized the Austria coach.

WAC is currently only in tenth place in the table with 14 points, and the first duel of the season in Carinthia ended with a 2-1 victory for the Violets:

"I think that there comes a strong opponent who is a bit behind in terms of results. It will be crucial that our tactical processes fit and our positions are better occupied again. I'm assuming that we'll be celebrating a really cool soccer festival here on Sunday together with our fans. The fact that more than 10,000 spectators are coming again shows how much the fans are embracing our approach.

Personnel news

Lucas Galvao returns to the team after his yellow suspension. Lukas Mühl is likely to miss out, and in the case of Reinhold Ranftl (shoulder problems) it will only be decided in the short term whether he can play. Otherwise the long-term injured Muki Huskovic, Marko Raguž, Ziad El Sheiwi and Florian Wustinger are missing.