Fabian Hurzeler: 'We won't underestimate anyone'

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Albion's head coach is expecting a tough evening against FK Jablonec in tonight's UEFA Conference League game.

Bruce Talbot

2026-10-22T06:00+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler in Jablonec ahead of tonight's game. 📷James Boardman

Fabian Hurzeler spoke to the media when he arrived in Jablonec ahead of tonight's second league stage match in the UEFA Conference League.

How is the squad looking?

Everything is fine. It was a long travel on Wednesday, but that won't be an excuse for tonight. We are in a good place, the players look very sharp and we are all looking forward to the game.

How much planning goes into this upcoming sequence of games for the squad and the technical staff?

My staff do a great job in the shadows. No one sees how much effort goes into planning these trips and the whole season. We hope to have a lot of games, which requires long-term, mid-term and short-term planning.

I am pleased with how everyone sticks together. Extensive planning happens across different departments, including organisation, analysis and medical. Everyone involved plays a big part. While our performances on the pitch are the most important, the people working behind the scenes directly contribute to those performances.

The opposing manager used the word zazrak (miracle) to describe what they would need to win. How do you see the game?

It is a Conference League game, and there are no bad teams in this competition. We won't underestimate anyone. We know we must play at our highest level, raise our standards, and improve individual performances.

Jablonec has quality; they beat Glasgow Rangers here and played a really good game against Freiburg last week. There is no reason to speak about miracles or underestimate them. We have to focus on ourselves and play at the highest level to give ourselves a good chance to win. The game is not won before we play it.

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After the impressive Premier League victory on Sunday, attention turns to the UEFA Conference League and the trip to Czechia where Fabian Hurzeler and the team face Jablonec on Thursday. Club photographer Paul Hazlewood captured some images from training.

Does the Freiburg game have more relevance because it is recent (last Thursday)?

I know Freiburg well, Freiburg is a really good team. Glasgow Rangers is also a strong team. We watched those games and saw Jablonec try to build up from the back. They want to play football, possess good individual quality and maintain a very good structure against the ball. In their league, they cross the most and concede very few big chances. We saw last week with Freiburg that if you don't reach your highest level it can get really tough.

As a Premier League team playing abroad, do you feel like a target for teams looking for a major scalp?

For a lot of opponents, playing us might be the game of their lives. Our mindset has to be right. If you think 90% is enough, you have no chance. The mindset must be that this is another great opportunity to show our principles, style of play and standards.

Every individual must go onto the pitch wanting to play the best game of their life. If we get a good team performance, we have a chance to win.