Austria digging deep for Parma

Didulica out
The Austrian side, who have already eliminated Legia Warszawa, Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Zaragoza, enter the match against the competition's only survivors from Serie A without their goalkeeper, suspended Croatian international Joseph Didulica. Hungarian Szabolcs Safar will deputise, with Söndergaard saying: "Safar is in top form at the moment. Our excellent pool of players will work to our advantage."

Sionko recovering
Austria, for whom midfield player Libor Sionko should be fit after recovering from a cold, gained an important 1-0 victory against FC Wacker Tirol on Saturday in their quest to finish as Austrian champions and keep confidence high going into Thursday's tie.

'No better'
The Vienna team are looking forward to the next stage of their European adventure with a near-capacity crowd expected at the Ernst Happel stadium, and veteran striker Ivica Vastic insists another upset could be on the cards. "Parma are no better than Bilbao or Zaragoza," said the 35-year-old. "They are favourites but we will have our chances. They might be a bit more aggressive but there is not much difference between Spanish and Italian football."

Parma problems
The postponement of the weekend's Serie A programme forced Parma to make do with a training game against US Fiorenzuola 1922 and besides being short of competitive action, the Gialloblù are also without several key players. Long-term injuries to Stefano Bettarini and Marco Marchionni keep them sidelined, while midfield player Vincenzo Grella will miss the first leg with a knee problem and defender Matteo Contini is suspended.

Squad rotation
"I will try to rotate my players in the best possible way so we have a fresh squad when we return to domestic action," said Parma coach Pietro Carmignani. "Austria are very strong. It will be a very difficult tie but we want to go as far as possible in the competition."

'Young side'
Striker Alberto Gilardino is in agreement, saying: "Nobody in our team has ever reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals as we are a very young side. That's why we really want to go as far as possible."