Magnus Pehrsson’s side made it into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup on the back of a 6-1 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna, but they have proved to be a tough proposition in Manchester already this season.
The Danes sealed a place in the UEFA Cup with a draw at Old Trafford in December’s Champions League game, having led United 2-1 at half time. That result came under the temporary tutelage Allan Kuhn, now assistant manager, following the dismissal of Bruce Rioch, and a good run at home and in Europe since means tonight’s game is finely-balanced.
“They are a very good side,” says Hughes, “they are well organised and have a set way of playing. They make sure they get people behind the ball and back into position when they lose possession.
“Away from home in Europe they have done really well, to be fair to them. I’ve watched a few of their games and they have a goal threat, as we saw in the last round when they acquitted themselves very well. We have to be mindful that they are a strong team, and even though in the Danish league they are below the teams we have already played. Nobody should place too much significance on that because they are acknowledged as one of Denmark’s strongest sides.
“In this first leg we are looking to be positive, we want to go into the second leg in good shape and in a position to win the tie. We don’t want it to be beyond us when we go to Denmark next week. Getting a positive result is important and then we want to get the job done in Denmark. This is an important competition to us and we want to progress.”
The DVD of the draw at Old Trafford has been in heavy rotation, with the Manager accepting that this display and the more recent ones against Deportivo give a real flavour of what City are up against.
“I remember the games at the time and I have reacquainted myself with them since. They were able to go to Old Trafford and score goals, which show that they have the quality in the side to cause good teams problems. We’ll be respectful of their threat and we’ll want to make sure we don’t get caught as other teams have done.
“They were very impressive and good value for their wins against Deportivo. That flagged them up as a good side and we will pay them due respect.”
