Today we go on the second away trip of the season. The first one was a success in the stands as we brought about 50 supporters to Valkeakoski, but unfortunately the result on the field was a 3-1 loss against VaKP. Today we ought to be able to reverse the course on the field, because the opponent Sastamalan Woima (SW) is the team currently holding the last place on the table with just four points from six matches, while we’d be able to move to the top of the table with a high-scoring win. However, results from around Nelonen this season have shown it is not as simple as that.

The opponent SW seems to be having an even weaker lineup than usual for this match. They in fact wanted to move this match to another time because several of their players were not going to be available for this match, but unfortunately a time that would have worked for TamU-K could not be found. Instead, it looks like SW’s second team has moved their match that was supposed to also be played today, and so they can bring up a few players from that team. Indeed, it looks like their lineup will include five players who have not played in the first team this season yet, three of whom are in the starting eleven.

Today’s match is only the second time this season that TamU-K will be playing (or training) on natural grass. The first time was the loss at Valkeakoski – still our only loss this season. In addition to the grass surface, the fact that the field in Sastamala is one of the biggest ones that we will see this season is another small challenge. In short, the conditions could not be much more different from our home in Pyynikki.

Our lineup has some shortages as well, as Andrea Milanti, Jan Irjala and Eero Sointu are absent, and even Jouko Turunen and Jacin Dakkaki who were planning to return in this match are still out. Add the long term and semi long term absentees Anssi Saiha, Joonas Kupiainen, Riku Jussila, and Juho Lehtovaara, and we won’t have as many options on the bench as usual. The starting lineup is still a strong one, and luckily we have players like Juha Kumara, who has already played in almost all positions from central defence to striker for us. On another note, Jan Irjala’s absence today must have been known last weekend, when he was subbed out for the last 10 minutes and Otto Pitkänen took his spot – you’ll have to assume Pitkänen will start today.

Last season we had a series of very difficult away matches, even if we ended up winning them all. Hopefully this season will be a bit different in that regard, and today would be a good day to start that trend. The match starts at 3 pm in Sastamala some 50 km (30 miles) west from Tampere, and the supporters and the team will travel together on the same bus – these are always fun ones. There is even a bit of a stadium waiting for us, a small main stand with a roof and all. One of those things that makes this season so much better than we’ve had before.