FC St. Pauli

...the first-round challenge: "I saw how quickly games like these can turn – and how an underdog can play above themselves and work up a head of steam – at Straelen last year. The challenge will be to counter that. Atlas Delmenhorst are no pushovers. They have a lightning-quick wide player in Touray and up front a powerful target man in Gysbers, who came from Magdeburg's youth setup. Eggersglüß has third-division experience. These are guys who know how to play football and win games. It's a special game for us, not only in terms of the atmosphere. It's a new challenge. We're the favourites, so I expect my lads to keep things simple, not try anything special and carry on where we left off against Düsseldorf, but this time get the goals."

...the injury situation: "It's still nothing major as far as Etienne Amenyido is concerned but we have to take things day by day. I can't say how long it's going to take. Carlo Boukhalfa is feeling a bit off and has been absent from training as a precautionary measure."

...the conditions at Delmenhorst: "It doesn't matter whether it's a good pitch or not, we want to impose our game on them. A good pitch is a help, of course, but it's the same for the opposition, so the pitch will never be an excuse for how we play. We'll just take it as it comes."

...the appeal of the DFB Cup: "The cup is special. As favourites you can get knocked out very quickly, and you can go on a good run as underdogs as well. I remember the season when we beat Dortmund at home and made it to the quarter-finals, for example. I know what’s possible and that even underdogs can go a long way in the cup. I want to achieve the maximum possible and enjoy as many cup nights as we can."

...the approach as favourites: "The lads who train under me want to train and not simply be coached, so I expect my players to want to get better. We're up against a side who'll sit back a bit and we're sure to come across that in the league as well. I'm not worrying about it too much because I know my players want to get better and I know the intensity they put into it. We have to keep doing the things we've been doing well. I expect that."

...the lowdown on the opposition from Under-23 coach Elard Ostermann: "Unfortunately, the Under-23s lost at Delmenhorst last season - they won here and I saw that game. I've had a chat with him and there'll be quite a few players involved who played for Atlas last season. We've prepared well and done everything we can to identify certain patterns the opposition like to play and we're passing that on to the players."

Photos: Witters/FC St. Pauli