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Ricoh have been preparing for this match for some time now

Stenbacken and Lagergren are on the roster, for Kristianstad to finally have all the back players at their disposal, but it remains to be seen if they'll play

It finally happened - Ricoh conceded more than 30 goals. Alingsas came closest to the margin (29) three rounds ago, and then Redbergslis went over it with 33 in the last round. The home team would not mind if they lost that way against a team who play at neck-break pace; but that was also a team who base their success on quality, tough defense and whose offense is underwhelming.

- It was a match where nothing worked. Our goalies were not up to the task, defense was bad and offense even worse- said disappointed coach Linnell.

The crucial part was offense, not even close to their usual patience, so they made one technical mistake after the other, which RIK took advantage of. Counterattacks came in from all sides, and the Goteborg team had a +8 lead by halftime. That was by far the worst half Linnell's team played so far, and have no intention repeating today. This match will be a bit special as it marks a day honoring the fans, there will be additional events in the arena apart from the match, so a full arena is expected with fierce chanting against Kristianstad, whom Ricoh have been getting worked up against for some time.

- I want us to play the way we did against Onnereds. Back then we conceded just 17 goals, and I want the same today. Without quality defending and top level goalies we'll hardly manage to get points, and we do want to make all these fans that will support us happy- said the home team strategist.

Ricoh definitely have the desire to win, but they will face one of the strongest teams of the league, whose profile doesn't quite suit them. The opposing strategist Lindgren has some extremely tough, physically strong players who can handle Ricoh's top setup, and unlike the home team he can also rotate and keep his team rather fresh throughout the match. Ricoh on the other hand rarely rotate, as they have problems with Konradsson and/or Gustavsson out of the game.

-We still have faith in ourselves and believe we can improve our game even further. I think we've finally adjusted to playing in the Elitserien and should start performing better. I hope the team will not be distracted by the fact this is our first live televised match, I hope to see us use that the best possible way- said the experienced expert.

Linnell will have one problem when it comes to his roster: goalie Fries is out with a knee injury, a man most people following Swedish handball know by his incredible 13/17 performance against Ystads a few rounds ago. In this situation it remains to be seen if Linnell will trust his third goalie and continue splitting the play time or will instead give Forsberg full time in the game.

Kristianstad also have some interesting roster changes prior to this game. On paper they are all improvements: first left back Stenbacken, who started the season very well, is back on the team, as well as right back Lagergren, who got injured right before the match against Hammarby. The same man played a very important role on middle back during the time Stenbacken and O'Sullivan were missing. These two coming back complete IFK's perimeter lineup, but...

- Lagergren trained very well prior to our trip to Stockholm and I believe he will be playing, wile Stenbacken's situation is almost the same as prior to the Hammarby match, it is looking better, but that kind of injury is tricky and takes a lot of time to fully heal- said Sigsjo, their physiotherapist.

As one can tell from his words, Kristianstad traveled a day earlier to the other side of Sweden, and should not have any fatigue issues prior to the match itself. Their strategist Lindgren also said a few words, and he has a different view on the perimeter lineup situation that the team's physiotherapist:

- Stenbacken will take some more time to get back in shape, while Lagergren had just one practice session this week. The fact they're back is positive, but this is far from the situation we had at the start of the season.

It is thus possible both of them to be on the roster but for other players to actually play their positions. In such a situation Ola would probably start with Olsson on the left, O'Sullivan in the middle and Cederholm on the right, a fine setup as well, but one that would have to carry almost the entire match, as IFK don't have another trio of backs as good as the ones mentioned above. Regardless of the setup fielded, Ola expects just one thing from his team:

- To play better that the last match, where we almost beat ourselves. We had 11 technical errors back then and a host of other minor problems. Naturally, I'm happy we still won, but I expect better from my team!

The away team's strategist is also convinced his team will have to do better to reach their fifth consecutive win because:

- Ricoh have a few very experienced and quality players such as Gustafsson, Forsberg and Linnell. We'll have to do very well to parry them, as they've proven to be able to make things hell on their court for any team in this league.

The fact this new team in the Elitserien lost only onve of the five home matches played proves that, and that loss was against defending champions Alingsas as well. In two they took a point (RIK, Skovde), while they scored victories against Onnereds and Guif, a team who are top title contenders along with IFK.

As expected, the bookies were influenced by Ricoh's result against RIK last round, but I don't think that game has anything to do with this one today. It was a total annihilation of Linnel's team in both segments of the game, which will force them to try and make amends today. Ricoh have been preparing for IFK for a while now, wanting to beat yet another favorite. Ricoh can do it only one way - with a tough defense and great goal keepers' performances, as the coach himself confirmed. That should work just fine since the visitors still probably won't be able to count on two great offense players Stenbacken and Lagergren, despite the fact they will be on the list today. IFK's offense is not at their full potential and I don't see a way for this match to end with more than 50 goals scored, especially with IFK more than capable of playing good and tough 6-0 defense.