Danish coach Age Hareide acknowledges that his defence conceded more chances in its opening World Cup game against Peru than it has done in years, and has called for his team to be much tighter when it faces Australia in Thursday night's Group C match in Samara.
Nevertheless, he is not overly concerned by the threat posed by the Socceroos.
"The first match we focused too much on the result, we forget to perform": Danish coach Age Hareide.
Photo: AP
"If I looked at it as a single match I should be worried. They had too many chances, that is true," said Hareide.
"Of our last 16 matches that is the game we had the highest number of goal opportunities against us. But I am not so worried against the defence. But we need to get batter against Australia."
The Danes will be without midfielder Thomas Kvist which has meant Hareide needs to shuffle his pack for a game which, should Denmark win, will guarantee they make the round of 16.
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That will mean a different role for Thomas Delaney, who has just signed a four year deal to join German powerhouse club Borussia Dortmund.
"Thomas Delaney is a box to box player. He is active offensively. He scored some goals in the qualifiers, he will be even more important now Kvist is out as he will have to take more defensive resonsiblity to give balance to the midfield.
Box-to-box player: Thomas Delaney battles for the ball with Peru's Jefferson Farfan.
Photo: AP
"Its the small margins. We saw Australia challenge France. The first match we focused too much on the result, we forget to perform," the coach said, acknowledging that the Danes were somewhat fortunate to get three points against the Peruvians.
Denmark will also look to their talisman Christian Eriksen to unlock what is likely to be a stubborn Australian rearguard.
"The last match he only had one assist, normally he scores the goals. He is a player who can change matches for us, we try to get him involved as much as we can.
"He will get close marking from Australia, but he's used to it from the Premier League."
Denmark is likely to have under 1000 fans at the game in Samara while Australia could have more than ten times that number.
It will seem like a home game for the Socceroos but the Danish players are too professional for that to bother them much, says Premier League winning goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
"We have seen that some teams have a huge backing. Peru you could see how much backing they have but it doesn't make a difference to us,'' said the Leicester shot stopper, pointing out that the Danes had all played in big games away from home against hostile support with their clubs.
"At the end of the day its 11 men v 11 men on the pitch. The mental aspect is important. When you reach this layer all the players are excxellent, their tactics are ready, they are all prepared, its going to be small matters that make the difference."
Both Schmeichel and Yussuf Poulsen, the striker who scored the only goal of the game against Peru, respect but don't fear their opponents.
"They had a really good game against France they were very unlucky not to get something from the game. They are compact when they defend, very well organised, they have speed on the wings,'' said Schmeichel.
Paulson added: "everybody knows we can play better than we did. In the qualifiers we played much better football. Our attitude going into the Peru game was really top class. Football wise we need to improve, make quicker decisions."
Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
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