“Not a stone, but a rock fell down,” breathed ASV trainer Goran Zvijerac (in 4-2-3-1 instead of the diamond) after the 1-0 at the third Kottingbrunn. “You could see it in the players’ eyes: we’re here now. Now they can believe in it.” The last three came on August 12 last year, and now the race to catch up has begun. The defensive has strengthened thanks to the newcomers, the goals conceded in the four spring games: 3-2-1-0.
“We work very well as a team, don’t allow much,” says the coach. “Of the six goals conceded, four were standards: three free-kicks and a penalty.” The announcement to the competition: “The victory was high and not a surprise for me. We’re not cannon fodder.” They want to up the ante against Ortmann. “A different opponent, they don’t have to win.” Olgun returns after a yellow card suspension, Jankovic is out after a second yellow card.
Steiner: “You can’t practice that”
One goal in four games. The SKN Juniors keep chasing their claims. In preparation, the focus was on stabilizing the defensive. Then the young wolves made progress. In Ortmann, however, two own errors spat into the soup. Trainer Philipp Steiner: “You just have to turn them off, you can’t practice that.” Meanwhile, things aren’t going well at the front. A goal scorer is missing, the internal leader Dürnitzhofer only has five goals and was recently injured. It’s not just the strikers that are in demand, but also the midfield. “We don’t finish the situations before it gets into the sixteen,” describes Steiner. The first line is dubbed well, but after that the SKN acts “too hectic and error-prone.”
Two options have been added on the offensive. Gallei made a comeback after a long injury layoff and Namchan has settled his stay, finally landing from Thailand on Thursday. Steiner: “Every option in all areas is good, so that we can maintain and change the intensity.”
