Preview of the away match at GAK

Austria Wien face GAK away from home in the 20th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga on Saturday at 5:00 pm. The Violets will be looking to build on their recent successes in Graz.

Last weekend, the time had come: after twelve unbeaten games with a whopping eleven wins, the Violets' run came to an end. In the end, they suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat against Red Bull Salzburg. ‘We can take a lot from the game’, says head coach Stephan Helm. ‘It was a match of equals, we have to learn from it and I think we can do that.’

Positive memories of Graz

The game was analysed the very next day, on Sunday. ‘We addressed what needed to be addressed and then ticked it off’, said Helm, who was delighted with a 'very good week of training'. ‘From Tuesday onwards, we concentrated fully on GAK and are optimistic about the next task.’

The next task lies ahead, where the Violets first reached the cup semi-finals at the beginning of February and were able to snatch a point from the league leaders shortly afterwards. ‘You take a positive energy with you when you know that you've been able to show positive results twice in this stadium.’ Nevertheless, GAK are a completely different opponent to Sturm, Helm knows: ‘Not just in terms of their style of play. They are always very well organised, know what to do and we are prepared for that. We'll work on something so that we can go home with a win.’

Dragović is suspended

The violet coaching team will be forced to make changes due to Aleksandar Dragović's yellow card suspension. ‘He's been fighting through the last few weeks and the break will certainly do him good now’, said Helm about the 100-time international.

It remains to be seen who will replace him: ‘Apart from Aleks Dragović, we have some very good defenders in our ranks. Philipp Wiesinger has trained again this week and will return to the squad, plus Lucas Galvão, Tin Plavotić and Joe Handl. We're in a really good position and will find a good solution accordingly’, said the violet head coach confidently.