FC St. Pauli

Fabian Hürzeler on…

...the injury situation: "Apart from David Nemeth and Etienne Amenyido, everyone is on the training ground and available to face Fürth. David is doing OK and is stepping up the workload. Things aren't quite so positive for Eti, who's had to take a small backward step in his rehab."

...communicating with the reserves in view of the relatively settled side: "I talk to them a lot but it isn’t so easy to find the words to keep them happy. Players want to play and be out on the pitch. The lads are still just as much appreciated as everyone else. It's important they perform in training and push the players in the starting lineup to the limit to make sure we have the best possible preparation."

...the low number of absentees: "I'm no friend of statistics, xG values or runs, but I know the more players you have available, the more likely you'll be successful. At the moment we don't have many injured players. We have a top medical department who with me and my coaching team are responsible for making sure we get the workload right. We have a very good exchange of views. The same goes for the performance department, who with me are responsible for the fitness of our players. Every member of our team is an expert. They have responsibility and are given responsibility. It's important to me that they grow with the job and they're doing that very, very well. I'm delighted to have experts like them in my team."

Fabian Hürzeler has few injuries to worry about and almost a full squad of players at his disposal against Fürth.

...opponents Greuther Fürth: " With their extremely high and aggressive pressing and huge number of sprints, they exhibit a lot of the RB brand of football. They defend forward very well, especially the backline. As soon as they can defend the gaps, they do so very successfully. Fürth press aggressively and very well. We have to come up with solutions. They switch the play incredibly well on winning possession. It'll be another big challenge for us. We'll keep trying to stay true to our brand of football. We try to play football and pass our way out. Fürth are tough opponents. On the coaching team we know what we're up against. For us, it's a matter of preparing the team as well as possible."

...our approach: "We want to stay true to our style of play even against a team like Fürth who press extremely hard and look to win the ball. Our position is clear. It's simply about playing football and being brave. You can't play out from the back without courage. I demand that from my players. They shouldn't hide or run away. I want players who want the ball even under maximum pressure. I'm convinced a team and individual players will develop then for the benefit of the team as a whole."

...narrow victories and the desire to be able to lean back with time to spare: "On the one hand, it's great to celebrate a narrow 1-0 or 2-1 win. On the other, I’d like things to be more relaxed. I'll take any kind of win, though. It's just a fact that second division games are 50:50 affairs. So much can happen and you need a bit of luck as well."

Photos: Witters