FC St. Pauli

Fabian Hürzeler on…

...the injury situation: "Eric Smith and Oladapo Afolayan are ruled out. Lars Ritzka has a cut but has continued to train. He's OK. David Nemeth has a cold, so we'll have to wait and see whether he's fit in time. Otherwise, everyone's available, including Etienne Amenyido."

...the analysis of the Schalke game and recent weeks: "In general, I think defeats are overdramatised. If I look at a game like the one at Schalke, I do it rationally and without emotion. We had a lot of good moments in the final third but didn't see them through to a conclusion. If we make the final pass, we have much better chances, and I'm convinced we can win games like that one even when we're not at our best. To do that, you need much more stability at the back and ultimate conviction in your defending. I'm annoyed about the way we're shipping goals. At Schalke we conceded from two goal kicks because our defensive cover was poor and our tackling wasn't good enough. That isn't typical for our season. We have to start playing to our strengths again. You sometimes have phases in a season when you can't perform on the limit. We have to get back to doing the simple things right."

...the home game against Hertha BSC: "First of all, I'm looking forward to playing at the Millerntor again after two away games. Playing in front of our own fans here is always special. In Hertha BSC we're up against a team who are very compact at the back and have done well recently. They have individual quality that makes them very good in transition. In Fabian Reese on the left, Ibrahim Maza in the middle and Palkó Dárdai on the right, they have three players who are very good at carrying the ball forward with their dribbling ability and the solutions they find in tight spaces, and there they have an out-and-out target man in Haris Tabaković. That makes them very dangerous. I assume we'll see a lot of the ball at home, so we'll have to make sure our positioning is good even when we're in possession so as not to give Hertha opportunities in transition."

...Hertha's Fabian Reese: "He's a very, very good player who's probably too good for the second division. He's come on well in recent months. He's a good finisher and is more difficult to predict now. Instead of going for goal himself all the time he also looks to find an unmarked teammate. With his dribbling ability he pulls defenders out of position, which usually creates space for other players. The second division is clearly the better for having him and we'll have to keep a close eye on him. That said, there's more to Hertha than just Reese. They have a lot of talented young players in attack who are capable of deciding a game."

...signing a new contract: "It was never in doubt. Good things take time. It's important for both sides to be able and free to exchange positions. That's part of the negotiating process. There are lots of reasons why I decided to extend my contract. One is the relationship of trust I have with Andreas Bornemann and Oke Göttlich, the fans and the team. We have a lot of great characters in the group. Having a good relationship with the players is important to me and I have a very trusting relationship with the leaders in the team. Every player is held in high regard here and we try to make every player better. That's my aspiration and it will remain that way. I'm very happy with the progress the team and individual players are making, but there's still room for improvement. It will always be our aspiration to progress year in, year out and develop our playing philosophy."

Photos: Witters