FC St. Pauli

Chance conversion

The Hürzeler XI registered 533 attempts on goal last term, more than any other team in the league. Their goal tally of 62 goals equates to an average of 8.6 attempts per goal, putting them seventh in the league, with Hertha BSC recording the best chance conversion rate. From 447 attempts on goal, they found the opposition net 69 times, meaning they needed just 6.48 attempts to score. Hansa Rostock finished bottom of the league for chance conversion, with an average of 14.47 shots per goal. HSV were the unluckiest team when it came to hitting the bar or post (24), with the Boys in Brown and Holstein Kiel (20 each) sharing second place. Eintracht Braunschweig, in contrast, struck the woodwork just four times all season.

Defending

A strong defence was a key to securing promotion, as the Boys in Brown allowed the fewest attempts on goal by some distance - just 313 - well ahead of Fortuna Düsseldorf (406) and Hannover 96 (407). And with 36 goals conceded, they also boasted the meanest defence in the league. Their ten clean sheets equated to fourth place. The Hürzeler XI conceded just five times after losing possession in the build-up, with only Hansa Rostock (4) performing better. No other team conceded fewer long-range goals, Florent Muslija the only player to beat Nikola Vasilj from distance when scoring from inside his own half. Another league best, shared with our crosstown rivals, was just three headed goals conceded. The number of goals conceded from crosses was also kept within limits at just six, a figure bettered by only three teams.

Set pieces

Another important factor in the promotion campaign was success from set pieces - at both ends of the pitch. The Boys in Brown conceded from a corner for just the third time on the final day at Wehen Wiesbaden and only eight times in total from a set play. Only fellow promoted side Holstein Kiel (7) did better. At the other end, set pieces were a frequent and occasionally decisive source of success, such as Jackson Irvine's important only-goal winner at home to Hansa Rostock in late April. The Boys in Brown scored 15 times from dead-ball situations, putting them sixth in the league. In this category, head coach Fabian Hürzeler gave the plaudits to his assistant Peter Nemeth (responsible for attacking set pieces) and goalkeeper coach Marco Knoop (defensive set-pieces), who put a lot of work into our set plays.

Stamina

The Boys in Brown set a new second-division record last term with 4,155.1 kilometres covered, beating Heidenheim's 4,098.33 kilometres from the previous year. They were also the best team in the league in terms of tempo runs (18,012) and high-intensity runs (25,378). The Hürzeler XI ranked seventh when it came to sprinting (7,366 sprints), with Elversberg coming out on top in this category (7,852 sprints).

Fair play

The Hürzeler XI were one of the fairest teams in the league, committing just 310 fouls in total (just under nine per game). Karlsruher SC, who collected 61 yellow cards and were the only team to go through the season without a sending-off, finished top of the fair play table ahead of Greuther Fürth (63 yellow cards and two dismissals for two bookable offences) in second and the Boys in Brown in third with 58 yellow cards, three second yellows (Hauke Wahl, Manolis Saliakas and Elias Saad) and one straight red (Karol Mets). One-match bans were served by head coach Fabian Hürzeler (seven yellow cards), Jackson Irvine (8), Eric Smith (7), Connor Metcalfe (6), Elias Saad (5) and Manolis Saliakas (5). Saad dished out the most with 46 fouls last term, putting him seventh in the league. Oladapo Afolayan, in contrast, took the most punishment, being fouled a total of 66 times. Only Osnabrück's Florian Kleinhansl (100) and Fürth's Branimir Hrgota (95) were fouled more often.

Photos: Witters