Feyenoord confident of success

Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk has backed his side to knock German outfit SC Freiburg out of the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

'We should knock them out'
The Dutch side hold a 1-0 advantage from the home leg a fortnight ago in Rotterdam and Van Marwijk believes that will be enough to see them through to the fourth round of the competition. He said: "1-0 is not a bad result and if we can score that vital away goal I think we're through. Freiburg aren't doing too well in the German league and I feel that we should be able to knock them out."

Van Hooijdink back
Feyenoord, top of the table in the Netherlands, will welcome forward Pierre van Hooijdonk back from suspension for the second leg. Influential midfield player Patrick Paauwe is a doubt, having only just recovered from a hamstring injury. He is therefore likely to start on the bench.

Injuries and illness
Elsewhere the Dutch outfit have anything but a clean bill of health. Striker Bonaventura Kalou has flu, defender Christian Gyan has picked up a groin injury and Jean-Paul van Gastel, Ramon van Haaren, Ulrich van Gobbel and Jan de Visser are all still out.

Emerton worry
Van Marwijk is also hoping the early departure of Australian international midfield player Brett Emerton from training with a sore thigh will not add to his worries. "If the injury is bad then we have a huge problem, because I do not have so many players left that can play in his position," he said.

Diarra back
Freiburg are currently a disappointing 12th in the 1. Bundesliga, some 20 points behind leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Their mood should be lifted by the likely return of Mali defender Boubacar Diarra who has made good time coming back from a leg injury.

Simple tactics
Coach Volker Finke believes the tactics they need to employ are simple. "We must make sure we do not concede a goal and put them under as much pressure as possible going forward," he said. "It is still something very special for Freiburg to play in Europe. We should be very happy and look forward to the second leg against Feyenoord. In Rotterdam we saw that we are not without a chance."