FC St. Pauli

The joy over the 2-1 win at Kaiserslautern was followed by a huge sense of relief less than 48 hours later. Having done what was required of them by moving above the magical 40-point mark, the Boys in Brown looked on as their rivals faltered (Erzgebirge Aue lost 3-0 at VfB Stuttgart and Arminia Bielefeld draw 1-1 at VfL Bochum), results that guaranteed their second division survival. The win at the Betzenberg was the fifth in a row, a feat they last achieved in 1998. It topped off a sensational second half of the season in which Lienen's charges have already garnered an impressive 30 points.

Fürth travel to Hamburg hoping to end a negative run of three defeats on the bounce. Last week the Shamrocks suffered the bitter disappointment of conceding in time added on to lose 1-0 against bottom-of-the-table Karlsruhe. Their luck has been out away from home as well, where the Franconians have won just one of their last nine outings. Head coach Janos Radoki will be without three first-team regulars due to suspension on Sunday, including leading scorer Serdar Dursun (nine goals). Also ruled out are long-term casualties Sercan Sararer (groin), Sebastian Freis (knee), Marius Funk (cruciate) and Veton Berisha (muscle problems). Despite the injury concerns, the Hungarian-born coach called for "more passion and desire" from his players at the pre-match press conference.

These are attributes the Boys in Brown have displayed in abundance in recent weeks. Lienen knows he can rely on his players to show total concentration and application: "In a situation like this we want to reach the target the players have set themselves. We want the maximum possible." The lads are still fired up, then, and determined to push themselves to the limit one last time this season. In staving off relegation they have discharged their duty, now they can go out and enjoy themselves in the quest for another record-equalling win.

Photo: Witters