MAGNUS HAGLUND, boss of Hibs' Euro rivals IF Elfsborg, today admitted he's had to undergo a crash course to bring himself up to speed on the Easter Road outfit ahead of tomorrow's InterToto Cup clash in Edinburgh, writes DAVID HARDIE.
While Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen and coach Gareth Evans have both visited Sweden over the course of the past ten days to complete a dossier on their opponents, Elfsborg's only glimpse of the Capital side in action came on the final day of last sea
son.
Haglund dispatched his assistant Jesper Bengtsson along with operations manager Bjorn Bordin to Edinburgh to watch Hibs face Motherwell even although it wasn't clear at that stage whether it would be his side or HB Torshavn from the Faroe Islands who would be playing Paatelainen's team.
Hibs lost 2-0 that night but, as Haglund revealed today, that's the only first-hand account he has to rely on as he prepares his side, which will fly into Edinburgh at lunch-time today before training on the Easter Road pitch later in the day, for Sunday's match.
Haglund insisted he hadn't given the InterToto Cup tie a second thought until after his side restarted the Swedish League season with a 2-0 win away to Djugarden, a result which keeps them second in the Allsvenskan.
He said: "I'll be speaking to my assistant about the game he saw and we'll try to gather as much information as we can about Hibs. I don't know any of the Hibs players but I do know of Mixu Paatelainen as a coach and I know it will be a tough game for us."
The full article contains 284 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
