Hjalte Nørregaard appointed FCK U19 coach

FC Copenhagen can conform Hjalte Nørregaard has been appointed the club's new U19 coach.

Hjalte became assistant coach to the U19 squad in the summer after two years in charge of the U17s.

And with Brian Riemer's move to Brentford now confirmed, Hjalte will be promoted to U19 coach.

"Hjalte possesses both the professionalism and the personality to take over as a permanent coach," Sune Smith Nielsen, chairman of FC Copenhagen's talent department, told FCK.dk.

"A new assistant in the U19 team will be Stefan Madsen, who is currently a U14 manager - a job he will keep until we have found a new U14 coach, which we expect to do before the end of the year."

Hjalte: I feel well equipped

Hjalte started his football career as a KB youth player before making his FCK debut in 1999.

He enjoyed two spells at the club and won five Superliga titles during his career.

Discussing his move to U19 coach, Hjalte said: "It will be an exciting challenge, which I am really pleased to be allowed to try.

"I have been lucky enough to learn from Jacob Neestrup for two years at U17 level and since this summer from Brian.

"I also have a strong team around me so I feel well equipped. I know all the boys very well, so I'm just looking forward to working on them and developing them further so that they can deliver their dreams."

Baltic Sea Cup in Halmstad
Hjalte gave his interview on the team bus as FCK's U19 side travelled to Halmstad for the Baltic Sea Cup.

On the tournament, he said: "We have been outplayed in the first two matches but it's still a really nice and useful tournament where players are challenged in a completely different way than in everyday life by some more adult teams that come with a different pace and another physique than we are used to.

"It gives us very valuable experience that players will take on the next step to senior level."

In the domestic U19 league, the team have lost their recent matches, and of course that does not fit the ambitious Hjalte.

"No, we train every day to get better and to win, so it's about development and about results," he said.

"You must be able to, and play under that pressure.

"We have plenty of talent and potential, but we have not been good enough when the matches were decided across both halves and we have been punished hard for our mistakes."