Debrecen wary of Kalmar comeback

Debreceni VSC are taking little comfort from last week's 2-0 home win against Kalmar FF as they prepare for their decider in Sweden tonight, with captain Zoltán Kiss saying the game will demand "100 per cent" focus.

Haladás warning
Goals from Jozsef Varga and Kiss secured a comfortable first-leg success for Debrecen, who have won four of the last five Hungarian titles. However, with 1. Liga rivals Haladás FC losing 3-0 to Kalmar's Allsvenskan peers IF Elfsborg in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, András Herczeg's side received an early warning that they can expect turbulence on their trip to Sweden. Kiss said: "Haladás's example shows that you can lose by a margin like 3-0 in Sweden if you do not use 100 per cent of your knowledge."

Pacy strikers
Right-back Csaba Bernáth added: "We have no intention of going to Kalmar just to defend because that's not the way you should play on the European stage." Assistant coach Zsolt Bücs, however, is optimistic, adding: "If Kalmar have to attack we will have more space, and while they have solid defenders, they are not as quick as our strikers."

Group stage
Founded in 1902, the Loki (the Railwaymen) have become the pre-eminent force in Hungarian football in recent years, but are still to achieve significant success on the European stage, having yet to reach the group stage of one of the major competitions. However, they would be sure of at least a UEFA Europa League group-stage place if they can cling on against Kalmar and then overcome the winner of the tie between Wisła Kraków and FC Levadia Tallinn in the third qualifying round.

Venue concern
Should they get through, they would play the second leg at home, but whether that match would be staged at their Oláh Gábor utcai Stadium is a matter for discussion. The arena falls short of current UEFA guidelines for hosting such a tie, but efforts are being made to avoid having the game switched to Budapest's Ferenc Puskás Stadium. "We still have a slight chance to play our next games in Debrecen and that would be very important for our supporters," said Debrecen general manager Sándor Szilágyi.