Hamrén hankers to prove a Nordic point

Erik Hamrén will look to contest FC København coach Ståle Solbakken's claim that "Danish sides are the best in Scandinavia" as he brings his Rosenborg BK team to Copenhagen needing a win to keep their UEFA Cup campaign alive.

Grim results
With Rosenborg having one point from their opening three games, anything other than an away victory coupled with a draw or a defeat for Club Brugge KV in the night's other Group G fixture, would bring an early end to the Norwegian club's European season. Hamrén himself will have another point to prove, having made his name in Denmark, winning the title with Aalborg BK earlier this year.

Point to prove
Indeed, Hamrén and København boss Solbakken have squared up on several occasions, and the 51-year-old Hamrén is looking forward to meeting again. "Their coach Ståle Solbakken has said that Danish sides are the best in Scandinavia. We beat [Danish opponents] Brøndby [IF] to get to the group stage, and now we will try our best to beat København," said the Swede.

Fighting talk
He can only hope such fighting talk can restore confidence among his players after they lost 4-0 at home to Valencia CF last week. "The game against FCK is very important, but those last ten minutes against Valencia made me very worried," he admitted. "I felt my players gave up, there was no mental power left in the side.

Motivation needed
"If we had fought for 90 minutes and lost 2-0, the feeling would have been better ahead of the FCK match," added Hamrén. "No one can feel proud after losing 4-0. I will need to work on motivating the players, but it seems to me that the players feel they have something to prove after the embarrassing defeat by Valencia."

Daylight hours
The Trondheim outfit have been in Denmark since Monday, in the expectation that a few days' training on grass will help make up for the injury-enforced absences of Marek Sapara, Juska Savolainen, Anthony Annan, Kris Stadsgaard and Besart Berisha. "We have had two days of training on grass, and have also seen more daylight than there is in Trondheim at this time of year," said Hamrén. "That could be important."