TamU-K just played on Sunday, but the next match is coming almost too soon. On Tuesday evening we are away at Ylöjärvi playing against the second team (YlöR/2) of the local club Ryhti. Founded in 1931, this is a traditional club that has activities in multiple sports ranging from Nordic skiing to volleyball. Their first football team plays two divisions above us in Nelonen.

A quick look at YlöR/2’s record reveals that they are not going to be an easy team to win. They are three points behind us in the table, and have conceded just 8 goals in six matches. This is an excellent number for Kutonen. On the other hand, they have only scored 13 goals, five of which came in a match against NoPS, who are by far the worst team in our subdivision. The rest of the matches have had scorelines you normally associate with football, but do not often see at this level. There is even a very rare 0-0 against Ikurin Vire and a 1-0 against AC Darra.

In positive news, the center back Ahmed Lakra makes a return for this match, hopefully solidifying our back line. Antti Kääriäinen is unavailable, but with the return of Lakra he might not have made it to the 18 for this match anyway. Retu Harju is absent too, a clear loss as he has been very lively in the midfield, but we do have a lot of options in midfield. Assuming this is the final word on player availability, there is no excuse on that department. We seem to be going into this match with as good a team as we can ever expect, and it is time to show that we can win one of the top teams.