Royer keen to prove himself at Austria Wien
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
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Winger Daniel Royer is looking to put lessons learned in Germany into practice – starting against FH Hafnarfjördur – after returning home to join FK Austria Wien.
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Back in his home country after two seasons in Germany, winger Daniel Royer is eager to show what he is made of after scoring in the UEFA Europa League for FK Austria Wien last week.
Capped six times, the footballing trail looked to have gone a little cold for the 23-year-old when he moved back to Austria after a two-season spell at Hannover 96. However, the winger delivered a reminder of his ability in the third qualifying round opener against FH Hafnarfjördur, scoring the only goal of the game – and his first for his new club – on 25 minutes. "I am pleased to have helped my team with the goal," he said afterwards. "We have the potential to improve, myself included."
Deployed out on the right against the Icelandic side, Royer was Austria Wien's main attacking threat, but the former SV Pasching and SV Ried man still has work to do if he is to prove to coach Nenad Bjelica that he is worthy of a regular starting place. He did not come off the bench in his side's first league game of the season, making his league debut for Austria Wien 66 minutes into the following fixture – a 5-1 defeat by FC Salzburg.
A starter at last against FH, he took advantage of the opportunity but was acutely aware that – with the away leg to come – his side could have been in a considerably stronger position. "On the whole, we should be happy that we didn't concede at home, but of course we are frustrated at the chances we missed," he said. "We were in control for the whole 90 minutes. It's a shame that we only won 1-0. We had good chances, but not many big ones."
Royer's move to Germany could easily be seen as an opportunity missed; signed from Ried in 2012, he made just three league appearances for Hannover in 2011/12, spending much of the season with the reserve team. Though he performed ably while out on loan with second tier side 1. FC Köln in 2012/13, it was to be the end of his German adventure. Now the hope is that Austria Wien's voyage to Iceland is another step in the right direction.
"The goal was to win without conceding and we did that," Royer said after the first leg success. "Now we've got to play well for another 90 minutes in Iceland."
