Hungarian outfit Szolnoki MAV-Coop SE have underlined that their goal this season is to progress from the first round of the FIBA EuroLeague Women.

The team's director of sport Attila Toth believes a place in the final 16 of the European competition would give a big boost to the profile of Hungarian women's basketball, especially as all of Szolnoki's home games will be shown live on a Hungarian sports television channel.

Toth also has plans to dominate the domestic league.

"We want to make it through the first round in Europe, and what is also important is that, like last year, we aim to finish in one of the top three positions in the Hungarian Championship," said Toth, who also stated that he wants the team to make it through to the final four in the domestic cup competition, the Magyar Kupa.

		Center Gina Farmer is back in Szolnok for another season

However as star player Andrea Farkas admitted, the participation of several of the team's players in the qualifiers for the 2005 European Championships and the Olympic Games, has delayed the team's preparations for the forthcoming season.

"The real training sessions are only starting now, because we did not had time to prepare together," said Farkas.

The players did come through a warm-up game against Czech team Gambrinus Brno on Tuesday, but despite the outstanding efforts of Lithuanian Iveta Marcauskaite, Szolnoki lost out 71-68.

"The supporters had a nice time - they enjoyed the game and it gave us a chance to analyse a few things," said head coach Peter Tapodi, who is also assistant coach of the women's national team.

Szolnoki will start their championship campaign in Hungary this Sunday against Sopron, but Tapodi has warned fans not to expect too much too soon.

"The team is not ready, because we have not had enough time for preparation and have only played one warm-up game," Tapodi added.

"I believe that there are some stronger squads in the league but our biggest strength is the team spirit and we hope we can cause a surprise at the end of the competition.

"The club could spend the same amount of money on new signings this summer as we did last year so we can say that we are definitely staying where we are, but it's not a bad thing not to spend a lot of money.

"I think Pecsi VSK will be the strongest team in the championship but we won't give up. Our squad is fine but we need a little bit of luck to avoid injuries during the season."