Gala will recover - Rijkaard - 7M sport

Gala will recover - Rijkaard

Posted Thursday, October 01, 2009 by PA

Galatasaray coach Frank Rijkaard has backed his side to bounce back after their 100% start to the season came to an end at the weekend.

The former Holland international led his team to six wins out of six at the start of their Turkish league campaign but a 1-1 draw at home to Eskisehirspor saw them lose pace with Fenerbahce at the summit.

Gala came in for some criticism following their below-par weekend performance, and Rijkaard will hope to see his side get back to winning ways against Austrian outfit Sturm Graz in their Europa League Group F meeting.

"The Eskisehirspor match was one we would like to have won but did not," he said.

"But I don't think this negatively affects the team. The work will continue."

Galatasaray's Europa League campaign began in impressive fashion with a 3-1 away win at Panathinaikos, and there is an expectation that Rijkaard will rest players such as Elano and Milan Baros - who both scored in Athens - for home Europa League matches.

However, the coach admits he has not decided who will get the nod for Thursday night, saying: "I do not know yet.

"For me, all this team is a part of my plans. The distinction of star players does not exist."

Sturm are bidding to get their group campaign up and running after slumping to a 1-0 defeat at home to Dinamo Bucharest in their opening fixture - the club's first European loss in 12 matches.

The visitors are performing better in the Austrian domestic league, however, with last weekend's 1-0 win over Kapfenberg moving them into third place in the standings.

Coach Franco Foda has a few injury concerns ahead of the match with Mario Kienzl, Mario Haas and Fabian Lamotte all out, while there are question marks over the fitness of Manuel Weber, Peter Hlinka and Andreas Holzl.

While underdogs for this match, Sturm do at least have history on their side in this fixture. The two clubs met in the Champions League group stage nine years ago, with Sturm winning 3-0 at home and drawing 2-2 in Istanbul.

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