Thorup: “I’m looking forward to seeing the fans in our own ground”

New FCA head coach to make home debut against Wolfsburg

After the 5-2 away win against 1. FC Heidenheim, Jess Thorup will make his home debut as FCA head coach in Saturday’s game against VfL Wolfsburg at the WWK ARENA (15:30 CEST). The Dane wants to see his side build on the momentum from the Heidenheim match and keep a positive mindset.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to take a lot of things from that game with us into the next match,” said Jess Thorup, looking back on his first two weeks in charge of FC Augsburg. “I feel at home in the city and at the club. I’m feeling good and looking forward to the future. The most important thing is that we won our first game together.”

The 53-year-old celebrated the dream start to his new job with a 5-2 win over 1. FC Heidenheim. “We always believed that we were going to win, even when we were 2-0 down,” explained Thorup. The Dane went on to say, “It’s given us a lot of confidence, but we’ve got to keep taking things one step at a time. The victory over Heidenheim was the first step. Now, we’ve got to take the next one.”

Fredrik Jensen was particularly impressive in FCA’s win over the newly-promoted side, assisting three of the goals. “Freddy is a clever player who can play in a number of different positions. I saw that he really offers the team a lot when he plays on the wing. He was great last weekend,” said Thorup in praise of the 26-year-old Finland international.

Vargas back in action

“FCA currently sit tenth in the Bundesliga table, directly below Saturday’s opponents VfL Wolfsburg. Jonas Wind is the Wolves’ top scorer this season, having already bagged seven goals in the league. The Denmark international is a familiar face from Thorup’s time at FC Copenhagen. “Jonas doesn’t just score goals. He’s a very important part of their build-up play. But I’m focusing on my team in order to get the best out of them.”

Almost all of FCA’s players are available for Saturday’s game. Ruben Vargas is back in contention after recovering from injury. The only unavailable player is Kevin Mbabu, who was only back in training on Thursday.

FCA can count on the full support of their fans in the WWK ARENA on Saturday. The home end is sold out for the ninth time in eleven games. “I’m looking forward to seeing the fans in our own ground,” said Thorup.