FC St. Pauli

At the beginning of the season, who would have thought that St. Pauli, fourth last year, would be bottom of the league after 19 matches and fighting against the drop, whereas newly promoted Dynamo Dresden would sit in fifth dreaming of back-to-back promotions? But football is like that sometimes, and always good for a surprise. Last week the Boys in Brown sprang a very positive surprise by claiming three important points in a 2-1 win against a Braunschweig side who had not lost at home before that.

Looking back at the 90 minutes plus seven minutes of stoppage time, the success at the league leaders was more than deserved. A clear signal to the rest of the league that Lienen's side are alive and kicking, it was a continuation of the upward trend that set in before the winter break and the perfect response to the bitterly disappointing 1-0 home defeat against Stuttgart. An impressive team performance saw them increase their points tally to 14 and cut the gap to second-division safety from six to three points.

Dynamo Dresden have 31 points to their name rather than 14 – a fantastic return for a promoted outfit whose prime aim is always to avoid relegation. Uwe Neuhaus's side are just nine points short of the 40-point mark, a target the Saxony side aim to reach as soon as possible. Yet Dresden now have their sights set on more, as their captain Marco Hartmann made clear during the week. "It's simply great fun to be in contention at the top and we want to stay up there for as long as possible," the midfielder said.

Results against the league's leading sides are one reason why Dresden are where they are in the table. Dynamo won 2-0 at Hannover and beat Stuttgart 5-0 and Braunschweig 3-2 at home. Better results against sides from the bottom third – Uwe Neuhaus's side lost 3-0 against Kaiserslautern and Aue and 1-0 against 1860 Munich – would have seen them ranked better than "just" fifth place. A win at the Millerntor is a must, then, if they want to stay in touch with Stuttgart, Hannover, Braunschweig and Union Berlin.

Yet that is something they have failed to achieve in five attempts. After two 2-2 draws in the then third-tier Regionalliga North, the Saxony outfit have lost each of the last three (1-3, 2-3, 1-2) in Hamburg. Their away form this season, however, has been impressive. Only Nürnberg and Stuttgart have picked up more points on the road (17) than Dynamo (14), who have lost just three of their nine away games.

So if the Boys in Brown are to continue their positive run, they will need to be very focused at the back, as in the last five games, in which they conceded just three times. "Our life insurance is a solid defence," said Lienen. As against Braunschweig, however, the Boys in Brown will also be looking to create chances and take them. If they do that, Lienen's side, who have won their last two away from home, will hopefully be able to celebrate their first win at the Millerntor since the 2-1 defeat of Bielefeld a full 22 weeks ago.

Lienen has almost a full squad at his disposal for the third game in a row against a top-five side. Daniel Buballa returns from a one-match ban, while Sören Gonther, Christopher Avevor and Aziz Bouhaddouz have recovered from illness. Only Philipp Ziereis is still working his way back to full fitness and thus ruled out.

Photo: Witters