Boilesen: No change in PSV preparation

F.C. Copenhagen defender Nicolai Boilesen knows what to expect when the Lions take on PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Europa Conference League tonight.

The last-16 first-leg clash sees Boilesen return to the Philips Stadium, where he played many times for Ajax earlier in this career.

And the defender is looking forward to taking on the Dutch side once again.

"The last time I played here, I was captain of Ajax and we won 3-1, but it's always hard to play here," says Boilesen.

"It's always a difficult place to play – mostly because they're a great team. They have a lot of individual quality, there's no doubt about that. But on the other hand we as a group aren't here to just participate but to win.

"We're here to get a result that we can then use in the home game next week. We're looking forward to it – we know it will be a tough night but we can also make it tough for them too."

FCK head into the clash having beaten OB, Viborg and Randers in the Danish Superliga since league action returned after the winter break. The Lions will play FC Midtjylland in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday, before welcoming PSV back to Parken in a week's time.

And Boilesen insists the team hasn't changed its preparations for the upcoming run of games.

"There's no difference (to our preparation). When you play at F.C. Copenhagen you're supposed to play every third or fourth day," says the defender.

"We have three big games ahead of us but right now we're only focused on tomorrow. That's the first game and the most important one.

"Hopefully we get a good result here and then we can look ahead to the next game on Sunday. But there is no real big difference to what we do normally and what we do now, just because of the teams we're meeting.

"We're used to playing two games every three or four days, and that's how it should be."

FCK expect around 1,000 fans to be in the Philips Stadium to support the team. And Boilesen explained what a boost the supporters give the players, especially after some recent attendance records back home.

"It's great, of course, that first Covid is just about behind us, and secondly because we've already seen in the away games we've had so far that the sections have been full," he says.

"Also in the home games as well – we've enjoyed having the fans back and we've enjoyed their support in the first six games of the group stage, where they supported us a lot and for sure helped us in tough games as well."