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'We have great squad we believe in': Potter defiant as Sweden's injury list grows

Potter speaks at the matchday minus one press conference
Potter speaks at the matchday minus one press conferenceSports Press Photo, SPP Sport Press Photo. / Alamy / Profimedia

Graham Potter is remaining positive on the eve of Sweden's second match of their UEFA Nations League (UNL) campaign, despite further injury withdrawals from his increasingly threadbare squad.

On Sunday 27th, it was announced that star striker Alexander Isak will be returning to club side Liverpool due to a minor thigh problem, while centre-back Hjalmar Ekdal has also left the camp having also suffered a minor injury.

Both featured in Sweden's 2-1 home win over Romania, in which Isak broke the deadlock, but neither will play a part in the other three League B matches in this window, starting with the home game against Poland on Monday 28th at 20:45 CEST - a repeat of the play-off final in March that Sweden won to book their ticket to the World Cup, which Isak also missed through injury.

Isak and Ekdal join Emil Holm as the most recent squad members to depart, while Mattias Svanberg, Taha Ali and Gustaf Nilsson were all forced to withdraw before the Romania match. 

With no replacements to join the squad at this stage, Potter's squad is quickly thinning, yet he remains full of belief in the players he has at his disposal, though he appeared willing to keep options open regarding what steps to take next.

"We have a great squad that we believe in. Of course we want all our players available, but we have other solutions and will continue to work the way we want. If we have to make a different decision after the game, we will do so."

Better news for Blagult is that Gustaf Lagerbielke and Besfort Zeneli have recovered from setbacks that kept them out of the Romania win, yet Lagerbielke's fitness is still in question for the Poland test: "Gustaf has made progress but we have to wait and see, but he has a chance. Besfort is available so that's good. We'll see how the game goes. He's ready to play 90 minutes. All the other players are available," Potter confirmed.

Poland began their UNL campaign with a goalless draw at home to Bosnia & Herzegovina, yet will come to Solna desperate to avenge the play-off defeat from March.

Follow Sweden vs Poland and all the UNL matches on Flashscore.

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