- We started well the game in Villach but our opponent reacted just as well to our play and in the second part of the game, they made all the right decisions against us. They started playing a much tougher physical game and always looked for the easier solutions, and this is how they finally managed to win. We also committed some mistakes and Villach was also able to take advantage of those, securing themselves a fairly big goal difference – explained Sapa Fehérvár AV19’s assistant coach, Lajos Énekes.

The Hungarian champions will get the chance to improve their record on home ice on Friday night against Olimpija Ljubljana.

- If we manage to win on Friday night, then Olimpija will not be able to reach us in the standings and we will secure ourselves a spot in the play-offs. In front of our fans we would like to play a good game like we did on several occassions recently and keep both points at home. Following a tougher period Ljubljana is playing very strongly again so we will need to give one hundred percent performance against them. In our last game in Villach we were able to score in powerplay but our penalty-killing didn’t function perfectly and knowing Olimpija’s best players, we must pay extra attention to these special situations. Frank Banham is still our opponent’s most dangerous players but we mustn’t think that we will face a single-man opponent . Shift by shift we will have to give our best, both in defense and in offense – said the assistant coach.

Sapa Fehérvár AV19 this week added young Swedish defenseman Niklas Andersson to their roster to replace Rastislav Ondrejcik who hasn’t been able to recover since a knee operation in December.

- Andersson is a well-built, agile young player whose hockey technique skills place him on the level of our best players. He has played the entire season so we believe that he will show good form and will be able to help our team – added Lajos Énekes.

Niklas Andersson is expected to be paired up with a compatriot, David Bornhammar. No further line-up changes are likely and there will be no decision about the starting goalie until Friday morning’s skate.