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Markku Kanerva hopes Finland can be "fully focused" against Russia

:Headline: Markku Kanerva hopes Finland can be 'fully focused' against Russia:
Russia are bidding to bounce back from their 3-0 opening group defeat to Belgium.
Sports Mole

Finland boss Markku Kanerva admitted he was unsure how his players will react to Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest in their next game on Wednesday against Russia.

The Finns launched their first major tournament with a 1-0 win against Denmark on Sunday, but their opening Group B fixture was overshadowed by Eriksen's first-half collapse.

Eriksen is recovering in hospital and Finland have since relocated from Copenhagen to St Petersburg. Kanerva's squad could book their place in the round of 16 with victory if Denmark fail to beat Belgium.

"It is hard to estimate how the event of Eriksen will affect different people and of course we all have it in our minds," former Finland defender Kanerva told a press conference.

"We are very glad that Eriksen is doing better and I hope regarding the difficult situation we will be able to concentrate on tomorrow's match.

"Certainly it will remain in our minds, even after the tournament. Maybe we will be able to appreciate the (Denmark) win even more.

"But it is not an easy task for all of us to concentrate only on football because there were bigger things than football in play."

Finland sealed their place at a major tournament for the first time in November 2019 when finishing behind Italy in their qualifying group.

Kanerva, a former schoolteacher, said Sunday's win was the pinnacle of his managerial career so far.

"It was one game and an important one, but we don't want to dwell on that," he added. "We want to be fully focused for the match against Russia. We're still on the road."

Russia, bidding to bounce back from their 3-0 opening group defeat to Belgium, have been dealt a blow with news Yuri Zhirkov could be ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

The Zenit St Petersburg midfielder was forced off against Belgium due to a calf injury and head coach Stanislav Cherchesov revealed Daler Kuzyaev, Fyodor Kudryashov, Georgi Dzhikiya and Aleksandr Golovin were all doubtful.

Cherchesov told a press conference: "The Finnish team is a strong one and they showed it (against Denmark).

"The game could have worked differently, but we knew from the beginning that they were a strong opponent.

"It was somewhat a surprise result, but the Finland players' attitude towards the game did not surprise me."

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City26203363174663
2Liverpool25176264204457
3Chelsea25148349183150
4Manchester UnitedMan Utd2512764032843
5West Ham UnitedWest Ham26126845341142
6 23133736261042
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs2312383131039
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2311482117437
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2571262528-333
10Southampton2571173237-532
11Leicester CityLeicester227693641-527
12Aston Villa2483133137-627
13Crystal Palace2551193236-426
14Brentford2666142742-1524
15Leeds UnitedLeeds2358102746-1923
16Everton2364132840-1222
17Newcastle UnitedNewcastle24410102645-1922
18Watford2453162443-1918
19Burnley2221192029-917
20Norwich CityNorwich2545161553-3817
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