Slomka proud after Hannover progress

Hannover coach Mirko Slomka said he was proud of his team after they sealed their passage to the knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League with two group games to spare. A 3-2 win over Helsingborg at the Niedersachsenstadion last night took Die Roten into the last 32 of the competition for the second season running, and Slomka could have little to complain about. Slomka, whose team reached the quarter-finals of the competition last season, said: "We have won seven out of eight games in Europe this season so we can be proud of qualifying after the fourth matchday." Hannover almost stumbled as they threw away a 2-0 lead against their Swedish opponents, only for Szabolcs Huszti to score a late winner. "This win is going to feel like a defeat for the lads at first," added Slomka. "But in the end, they will slowly get the feeling that they have achieved something big. It was not a fantastic performance, but we had to fight with the difficult conditions underfoot too. Now we want to win the group and we also want to win our next games." From : FiFa