LASK started spring preparation

Runner-up Sturm Graz and LASK also blew at the start of training, as did the Austrians in Klagenfurt and Vienna as well as the western clubs SCR Altach and WSG Tirol. In Pasching, LASK coach Thomas Sageder only had 17 field players available alongside four goalkeepers. Sascha Horvath was absent due to illness, Ebrima Darboe is at the Africa Cup.

On Monday we are going to Turkey for twelve days, Sageder wants to take 26 players with him to the training camp. “We have three test games there and want to take the next step, especially in terms of play,” explained the coach. Team building measures are also planned in Belek, and seasonal goals will also be developed.

• Training start at LASK:

Captain Robert Zulj is expecting an intense time. “I hope that we can go full throttle and pick up where we left off in the league.” The Linzers are in third place. The start of the competitive game is the cup quarter-final home game against Salzburg in four weeks (February 3). “It’s obviously a difficult draw. But you can only win the Cup if you beat every opponent. So we have to use the coming weeks and be in top form,” said Zulj.

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In Klagenfurt Coach Peter Pacult started the 2024 working year with his team in the Karawankenblick Stadium in the morning. The 64-year-old was able to welcome, among others, keeper Marco Knaller and Christopher Cvetko back after a long injury break. “It was nice to see the boys again and get to work with enthusiasm,” said Pacult.

The main goal is to get the fifth-placed players fit for the fight for the championship group. “We have to work hard in the next few weeks to be ready for the tasks.” They will move into Dalmatia at the end of January and LASK will be waiting for the start of the league on February 11th. By then, Kosmas Gkezos and Jonas Arweiler could also be back on board; they are in the final rehab phase. Simon Straudi and Bego Kujrakovic, however, are still out.

In Altach Coach Joachim Standfest had to do without the sick Mike Bähre, Jan Zwischenbrugger and Tobias Schützenauer during the first training session in the morning. Despite military service with the armed forces, goalkeeper Dejan Stojanovic and Lukas Gugganig will be able to take part in a large part of the preparation. The duo also travels to the training camp in Turkey. Things will also get serious for the Altach team in the cup, on February 3rd in Leoben they will reach the first semi-finals in the club’s history.

Already on Thursday we were at the bottom Austria Lustenau Training resumed under neo-trainer Andreas Heraf. Champion Red Bull Salzburg follows on Saturday, before the last four clubs, SK Rapid, Wolfsberg, Blau-Weiß Linz and Hartberg, start their preparations on Monday.