Preview of the away game at LASK

Austria Wien will be playing away at LASK on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the third round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga. The Violets want to get back on track in Linz, while the home side are looking to secure their first points of the season. For Stephan Helm, team spirit is particularly important at this stage.

Thursday evening's elimination from the Europa League was not easy for the entire Austria family to take. Even a night later, the 4-5 aggregate score against Baník Ostrava is still simply annoying. ‘It was a very bitter evening. We all realised that more could have been possible, and that was still noticeable in training today, which is only natural,’ said Stephan Helm.

Sticking together in Linz

Nevertheless, getting back on our feet, refocusing and moving on were the keywords on Friday. "We have to put this behind us and focus 100 per cent on the tasks ahead, on the next games, so that we can celebrate success. Everyone knows that we now have to steer the ship in a positive direction, and that can only be done through solidarity, which we need all the more in this phase."

LASK are a tough opponent on Sunday, who are still without points after two rounds and are hoping to get their first points under new coach João Sacramento. ‘LASK can once again draw on a lot of individual quality this year and is a very ball-secure team. For us, that means being very aggressive against the ball, as we did quite well on Thursday when we kept the opponent away from our own goal,’ explains the 42-year-old.

Forcing luck

‘On the other hand, we also need to be bold with the ball. We have to work hard for that right now, we have to force luck to a certain extent,’ says Helm, who knows his team's strengths and does not want to ignore them. ‘Despite everything, we're not going to make ourselves smaller than we are. We have a lot of potential in our team and we have to unleash it.’

In Linz, clearer scoring chances than last time will be needed to be successful. Helm: ‘If every single player performs at their best, then we will take points, and that is also our clear goal.’