At prime time

Bregenz now also attack Ried

In the last duel with Ried, Franco Flückiger had to make five saves.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Top game in League Two, fourth-placed Bregenz host league runners-up Ried. And the Vorarlbergers are expecting something in the Innviertel, coach Regi van Acker sees the pressure on their opponents. Bregenz lost the last encounter last season 0:5 - revenge is on the cards.

"Certainly not, we needed the time to recharge our batteries," said SW Bregenz coach Regi van Acker when asked why he had not scheduled a test match for his team during the international break. Now the energy stores are full again.

SW coach Regi van Acker is confident of his chances in Ried.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

And the Black & Whites are in rhythm, even the 4-0 defeat against St. Pölten before the break didn't change that. Because it was an isolated incident, otherwise Bregenz have had a season so far with little to criticize. "Something like that can happen once. But it mustn't happen again. I didn't like the manner of the defeat at all. That was too little," Van Acker clarifies. "Nevertheless, we haven't analyzed much."

The coach is now focusing on the last three rounds before the winter break. The mark of 27 points from last fall is the goal, four are currently still missing. "We want to beat that," he says.

Pressure from opponents
But the start of this mission will not be easy. Today, Ried, second in the league and a self-proclaimed promotion candidate, awaits late in the evening at prime time (20:30). "I don't mind the late kick-off, but I don't care that we're traveling on the same day and sitting on the bus for six hours or more," says the SW coach, "but Ried still have more pressure. They have a good and strong team, but they have also made mistakes this season."

Djawal Kaiba (right) returned to his home club Altach.(Bild: GEPA)

Van Acker will have to do without the injured Adriel, Anteo Fetahu and Stefan Umjenovic in the Innviertel. He will also be without midfielder Djawal Kaiba for the rest of the season, who returned to his home club Altach on November 20.