After the defeat to FC Midtjylland on Sunday, FCK will have to prepare thoroughly for their visit back to Jutland this weekend. AaB's coach Kent Nielsen is optimistic before the match, and he is also confident that the Aalborg outfit can upset the visiting side.

by Joe Short

Before the Superliga clash on Saturday, FCK.DK got hold of AaB's head coach Kent Nielsen, to hear the views of the relegation-threatened manager.

1-1 in the first game of the spring (against Silkeborg) was probably was not good enough in terms of points at the end of it, but were there positive aspects to the game?


- I must say that the first hour was fine. Offensively we did well; we kept possession and restricted Silkeborg from the ball for long spells. We came up with some options to go forward but didn’t create many chances on goal – but anyway, I think we were very positive. Defensively we prevented Silkeborg from coming forward in the first hour, and it was probably just before then that they got their first corner kick. I can only regret that we did not score a goal more; for I am quite sure that had we made it 2-0 at some stage, that would have settled the match and we’d have taken the three points.


- In the last half hour Silkeborg played much better, but even then created few chances. Actually I don’t think Karim Zaza was forced into a single save. But unfortunately it was not enough to win, because we got a marginal decision against us, and that is a part of the game. It’s clear that we were annoyed that day, but now we’ve moved on. We can take a lot of good stuff from the game: our pressure play worked; we moved the ball up from the back; the team retained possession well. We played well enough to win against Silkeborg, but all in all we took a small step in the right direction.


The other results last weekend were probably not what you dreamed of earlier in the day:


- No, but I have to accept it. We must focus on – and this is cliché I know – ourselves, not others. We can’t speculate on all the other results; we must look at our own game and the challenges that await. The remaining 13 matches will decide whether we save our Superliga life or not. We need only look at our own battles, which is more than enough.


Is there a confidence in the squad now, different to the feeling there was in the last matches in the autumn, which of course culminated with a 0-6 defeat to OB?

- It's there! The big defeat to OB was bad and no one who saw the first half of the battle would have thought that, at 0-1 at the break, it would end up 0-6. We’re a long way from that now; we've looked at what was good and what was bad in the autumn. With the new players we’ve now got and if we look at our seven wins and one draw over the winter break, there is optimism in the squad and a belief that it is possible to stay in the Superliga. We know it gets hard and I'm pretty sure that's going to be excitement all the way to the final game. But we believe in ourselves, even if we struggled against Silkeborg and ended up disappointed at the finish line.


FC Midtjylland beat FC Copenhagen last week in Herning. Does AaB have what it takes to repeat FCM’s result?


- Well we believe we can! FC Midtjylland did it their way, but we believe we have the resources needed to get points on Saturday. At the same time we still have great respect for FC Copenhagen and their achievements this season, both in the Champions League and Superliga, for they have shown that they are a class crew. But we are realistic and therefore know well that even though we played a good match on Saturday, this doesn’t mean you get what you deserve. We had good support at the stadium last Saturday and I think we will have the same numbers for the match against FC Copenhagen. Remember, those who come will believe we can take the three points. We know that we will be very effective in what we do, and maybe get a bit of luck to upset FCK…