The Swedish handball ladies are gathered in Karlskrona for double international matches against the Czech Republic, first this evening and then on Sunday.

It will be the last rehearsal before the EC, which starts on November 4.

- I think it's a good rep.

It is clear that it might have been useful to have a really good opponent.

But with that said, the Czech Republic is a nation on the rise.

Now they miss this championship but they were in a very tough qualifying group with France among others.

I think they have stepped up and they have three really good players who are extremely world class in their team and it will be good for us to meet them, says Tomas Axnér.

The squad will be presented on Monday

21 players are called to the international matches against the Czech Republic, both of which are broadcast on SVT, but only 18 players go to the EC.

On 31/10, the national team captain presents the final squad.

But who is removed is not the primary focus, says Axnér.

- We think, first of all, that this is a rehearsal for the EC where we have to set our game.

The players who, according to our sketch, will play a lot should be given the opportunity to do so.

So it's more focus on that actually and less focus on what the final pieces of the puzzle will be in our team building.

This is not a try out for the last places, but it is about setting a game before the EC, so that is the most important thing, he says.

"Some things the players cannot influence"

However, this does not mean that he has already decided which players will be allowed to stay at home.

- It's clear that we have a number of different scenarios for how we think about the last places, but then we haven't completely locked ourselves into it yet.

Without that, we'll see how this week turns out, says Axnér and continues:

- And certain things these players cannot influence either.

If we get a supporting player who maybe has a half-sprained foot or a hamstring that makes it a bit doubtful for the opening games, we might think again in that case.

In the group stage in the EC, Sweden faces Serbia on 4/11, Slovenia on 6/11 and Denmark on 8/11.