FC St. Pauli

The 2-0 defeat of Braunschweig was a further step in the right direction, with the Boys in Brown advancing to 38 points and a place in the top half of the table for the first time since October. Few could have predicted that in early January, and the question now is how the rest of the season will pan out. The Schultz XI are eager to maintain their impressive run of form, of course, and will go flat out in the remaining seven games. A policy of taking each game as it comes has served them well in recent weeks, meaning the focus is solely on Aue for the time being.

Two games in a week for the Boys in Brown, then, and after a successful outing in what was potentially their last Monday night game, they go to Aue targeting another positive result. That will be anything but easy, however, as the Saxony outfit are awkward opponents with an excellent home record. No fewer than 25 of their 37 points have been garnered on home soil, with Jahn Regensburg and Fortuna Düsseldorf the only teams to come away from Aue with a victory.

The Violets may be no slouches at home, but the Boys in Brown go to Aue on the back of several commanding performances on the road. Their last defeat away from home was a 2-1 reverse at promotion-chasing Greuther Fürth just after the turn of the year. Four wins and two draws have followed since then, a record bettered only by VfL Bochum (five wins, one draw, one defeat) and Karlsruher SC (five wins, one draw).

"We go to Aue with the aim of taking all three points," said Timo Schultz at yesterday's pre-match news conference. His side are undoubtedly on a roll and go into the game with a desire to run for 90 minutes and a belief in their own ability that will hopefully see them return to Hamburg with at least a point for the first time in more than seven years.

Photos: Witters