Preview of the away match in Graz

The guest game at second-placed Sturm Graz is the penultimate match in the basic round. Austria won three of the first four matches under coach Michael Wimmer, against Austria Klagenfurt (3:1), Hartberg (3:0) and most recently in Ried (3:1), only in Lustenau the Veilchen were defeated despite having more chances.

As a result, Austria (29) moved up to fifth place in the table and are now one point ahead of WSG Tirol (28) and two ahead of Klagenfurt (27) in the battle for the top six. In the last two rounds, all Bundesliga matches take place simultaneously. While Austria plays in Graz, Tirol plays in Hütteldorf, Klagenfurt plays Hartberg. Next week, the home derby awaits the Violets.

Manuel Ortlechner: "If we perform at our best, we have good chances against every team in the Bundesliga. If we don't, we have problems, like in the opening phase against Ried. I expect a top game. We always want to compete with top teams in the championship group."

Coach Michael Wimmer: "The game is a big challenge. Sturm has a good team and is of course the favourite, but we still want to play our game and compete with them. Then we'll see how far we are in our development and what we still need to work on. Sturm play a very intense and straightforward football."

Personnel news

Aleksandar Jukic has problems with his heel and is questionable for Sunday: "It would be bitter if he dropped out because he is in very good form. But we have already shown several times that we deal well with personnel absences and the boys who come in do their job well," says coach Michael Wimmer.

Dominik Fitz made great progress this week, has been back in team training since Tuesday and could already be in the squad against Sturm. Georg Teigl also reported fit again. Unfortunately, Andreas Gruber (flu) is out again. James Holland, Lucas Galvão and the long-term injured Muki Husković, Ziad El Sheiwi, Florian Wustinger and Marko Raguž are still missing.

Romeo Vučić, Matan Baltaxa, Florina Kopp and Armand Smrcka will get match practice with the Young Violets against SKN St. Pölten on Friday evening. "For the players it is a good opportunity to get into the match rhythm against a top team of the 2nd division. For the Young Violets, in turn, they are important reinforcements. They can still be an option for the squad against Sturm," explained Manuel Ortlechner.