FC St. Pauli

Alexander Blessin on…

…the injury situation: “Apart from the long-term casualties, everyone’s available and raring to go. We’re spoilt for choice and I’m glad about that. We’re very focused and want to win the game, so we won’t rest anyone. I’m happy to do that if there’s an opportunity towards the end of the game but not before. We’re taking it very seriously.”

…the mood in the camp: “It’s been calm and relaxed. The Frankfurt game went the right way. The lads enjoyed it and deservedly so, but the focus soon turned to the game against Bochum. We still have a job to do. We want to take the final step and sign off from the fans in the appropriate way.”

…the motivation and goals going into the final game: “Everyone wants a bit more. We’re the second-best defensive team in the league, something that’s down to the whole team, and we want to maintain that status. To achieve that over the course of a season is quite an accolade. We intend to run ourselves into the ground again. Our fans were the ones to suffer early on in the season, especially at home, but we managed to put an end to that bit by bit. We want to bow out with a win, and we have a big incentive to do that.”

…opponents Bochum: “They're under no pressure and can play with freedom for the first time this season, as strange as that sounds. We have to be careful and make sure they don’t enjoy themselves here at the Millerntor. They’ll try to be destructive and we need the flexibility to disrupt their marking. We have to give as good as we get in the tackle. There are games with lots of second balls, so we have to be show presence. We lost the first game because we didn’t hold our own. We have to be prepared to battle and come up with solutions on the ball.”

…the defeat at Bochum in the reverse fixture: “That game is something I’ve mentioned a lot in my team talks because we don’t want another performance like that. We were found wanting in every area. We didn’t stick to our patterns, we lost every second ball and we didn’t tackle properly. It was a day to forget in the end. Our response was outstanding, though, and that was important. Anyone can make mistakes, but the important thing is to cut them out. We’ve haven’t seen a performance like that since, which is pleasing.”

…the mark he would give his team for this season: “You always have a half-term report. At the halfway point the mark would probably have been ‘satisfactory’. What counts in the end, though, is the end-of-term report. If you consider the progress we made in the second half of the season, the grade I’d give would be ‘good’.

…his first season at the Millerntor: “It always gives me goosebumps a bit when I walk out onto the pitch. It’s such a great feeling. We can make it even better at the weekend with the right performance and the right result. What I can say is that everything that’s happened so far has been really cool.”

Photos: FC St. Pauli