FC St. Pauli

Hauke Wahl on…

...the mood in the camp after the Schalke defeat: "We're aware of our performance. We simply didn't win the personal duels, so there was no need for any harsh words because we all knew. We lost a game, something that's happened to every other team in the league. Losing isn't nice, but we aren't letting it get to us. The mood is very positive. We always have a lot of fun together and are working hard, which is very important, and that's what we've been focusing on in the last few days."

...the loss of Eric Smith and the role of defensive leader: "It obviously hurts to lose one of the league's best players. Even when everyone was fit, we always said we have good depth in the squad. Now's the time to prove it. I'm convinced we'll be able to compensate for his loss. I don't know whether I'll assume his role. I haven't spoken to the coach yet. As a rule, I always play where I'm needed. If it's the case that the coach sees me in that position, I'll be happy to play there and will do my best to make sure we win."

Hauke Wahl (here under challenge from Marton Dárdai under the watchful eye of Haris Tabaković) and the Boys in Brown won the reverse fixture 2-1.

...opponents Hertha BSC and their attack: "It's always about the whole team. If we're able to exert enough pressure up front, it makes things easier at the back. The task is to make things so difficult for the opposition as a collective that they have to work extremely hard to create a chance. We have to play with intelligence and be prepared if we lose the ball when we're in possession."

...the loss of fluency at times during the second half of the season: "Teams are becoming more accustomed to the way we play and making things more difficult for us every week. We have to come up with solutions to that. Solutions that were obvious last weekend, but we didn't find. When you're more patient and calmer in your play, it might look as if you're struggling, but that isn't always the case. Teams are asking us more questions. Another factor, of course, is that every team tries a bit harder when they play the league leaders. We might have played better in the first half of the season, but we dropped points then as well. At the end of the day I don't care if we struggle as long as we get the results."

...the promotion race and results elsewhere: "I don't watch every game, but I do catch the results. We'd do well to focus on ourselves. It makes little sense to look at what other teams are doing and start getting the calculators out. You drop off a couple of per cent then. We have to be totally focused on ourselves and perform to our ability. If we do our homework, nothing else matters really."

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters