Men's national squad begins work under Rossi at Telki

Hungary have a vital EURO 2020 qualifier against Slovakia at the Groupama Aréna next Monday but beforehand, they face Montenegro in a friendly in Podgorica this Thursday. The last members of the squad to arrive, Krisztián Németh and Botond Baráth from the USA, and three who played for their clubs on Sunday – Dominik Nagy, Tamás Kádár and Filip Holender – did so on Monday morning.

Midfielder Ádám Nagy will remain at Telki while the others are in Montenegro as he faces a race against time to be fit for the Slovakia match, having sustained an ankle injury playing for his new club side Bristol City. His injury is responding well to treatment but it is still too early to say whether he’ll be available for selection on Monday.

Squad members who played for their club sides on Sunday received a day off on Monday to recuperate whilst the others held an afternoon training session under head coach Marco Rossi. Máté Pátkai and Mihály Korhut also sat out the session, both recovering from slight knocks and not being risked, with a replacement in the shape of Under-21 defender Attila Szalai being drafted in to aid the senior squad in their work.

Long-term injury absentee Roland Sallai is also back with the squad, the Freiburg forward telling mlsz.hu that: “I’m in good shape and completely over the injury I sustained in the spring. I wasn’t quite ready for the matches in June but I’m raring to go and feel 100% now. There won’t be any issue with motivation against Slovakia and I’m sure we’ll be able to count on great backing from our supporters. We mustn’t forget that we’d also like to bring more joy to our fans by defeating Montenegro though”.

Roland Varga, fresh from qualifying for the Europa League group stage with club Ferencváros last Thursday is hoping there is further reason for joy come Monday. “The match in Trnava in March counts for little in that we were at the start of a long journey then. We’ve developed much as a group and as a team since then, and I believe our play has come on leaps and bounds. It would be a wonderful experience if the Groupama will be celebrating again come Monday evening”, he said.

Hungary squad:

Goalkeepers:

Dénes Dibusz (Ferencvárosi TC) Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig) Ádám Kovácsik (Mol Fehérvár FC)

Defenders:

Botond Baráth (Sporting Kansas KC) Barnabás Bese (Le Havre) János Ferenczi (Debreceni VSC) Tamás Kádár (Dinamo Kiev)

Mihály Korhut (Aris Saloniki) Ádám Lang (Omonia Nicosia) Gergő Lovrencsics (Ferencvárosi TC) Willi Orbán (RB Leipzig)

Midfielders:

Dániel Gazdag (Budapest Honvéd) Dávid Holman (Slovan Bratislava) László Kleinheisler (NK Osijek) István Kovács (Mol Fehérvár) Ádám Nagy (Bristol City) Pátkai Máté (Mol Fehérvár) Dávid Sigér (Ferencvárosi TC) Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Salzburg)

Forwards:

Balázs Dzsudzsák (al-Ittihad) Filip Holender (Lugano) Dominik Nagy (Legia Warszaw) Krisztián Németh (Sporting Kansas) Roland Sallai (SC Freiburg) Ádám Szalai (TSG Hoffenheim) Roland Varga (Ferencvárosi TC)