Preview of the 1st Cup round in Saalfelden

The Violets travelled back straight after the 2-1 defeat in Tampere and landed in Vienna on Thursday night. Before Austria take on Ilves in their first home game of the season in the Generali-Arena next Wednesday at 8.30pm to make up the deficit and progress to the next round of the European Cup, the first round of the Cup is still on the programme on Sunday afternoon.

Coach Stephan Helm is planning to make a few changes to the starting eleven: ‘We will certainly rotate in one or two positions in order to field as fresh a team as possible. We will line up with a powerful squad on Sunday. The cup is a special competition with a special flair - we want to get as far as possible.’

FC Pinzgau Saalfelden finished the past season in fourth place in the Regionalliga West, behind Austria Salzburg, Hohenems and Reichenau: ‘In games like this, it's extremely important to be on the ball right from the start. We have to make sure that we get the game on our side. We know that teams from the third league can be very demanding in a cup game like this. Every player is aware that it's no walk in the park. We want to use the game to regain positive energy for ourselves,’ explained Stephan Helm.

Johannes Handl, as well as the long-term injured Marko Raguz, Florian Wustinger & Ziad El Sheiwi are still out.