FC St. Pauli

The reverse fixture in October ended all square at 1-1. Jeremy Dudziak gave the Boys in Brown a first-half lead with a pinpoint effort into the roof of the net, only for Aue centre-back Dennis Kempe to level the scores from a 70^th minute corner.

Hannes Drews's side went four games without a win after that, but they are in fine fettle going into Saturday's game and are currently enjoying the league's longest unbeaten run (three wins and four draws in their last seven games). Aue's last two outings both ended in victory – 3-1 at Regensburg and 2-1 at home against Greuther Fürth – and they have lost just one of their last nine games at the Erzgebirgsstadion, a 3-1 reverse against Eintracht Braunschweig in January.

The Boys in Brown, for their part, have lost only one of their last six matches, though the last three have all finished level. A 0-0 stalemate against Braunschweig was followed by 1-1 draws at Kaiserslautern and at home against Sandhausen. The head-to-head record against Aue could also be better, with two wins in 14 meetings as against five draws and seven defeats.

At the pre-match news conference, Markus Kauczinski called for a brave performance and a no-nonsense approach from his side. In addition to the usual absentees, Bernd Nehrig, Luca Zander (muscle strains) and Kyoungrok Choi (shingles) all miss out, whereas Aue coach Hannes Drews will have to make do without attacking players Sören Bertram (ruptured tendon), Nicky Adler (groin) and Cebio Soukou (thigh) plus centre-backs Nicolai Rapp (hairline fracture in his foot).

Last week's win lifted Aue out of the drop zone and into 15^th place, but they remain mired in the relegation battle on 36 points. And though Boys in Brown sit higher up the table in tenth spot, they are only one point better off than the Violets. With precious points at stake, then, the fans can look forward to a fiery encounter in the Ore Mountains region of Saxony.

Photos: Witters