FC St. Pauli

Markus Kauczinski began with a roundup of the injury situation. It was a very brief one, as none of his players came out of yesterday's game carrying a knock. Johannes Flum does have a slight knee problem but was able to take part in the morning's recovery session. Philipp Ziereis is still ill and Kauczinski was unable to say when he will return to training. "He's been to see the doctor today and we'll see how long it takes," said the 48-year-old, who is confident that Christopher Buchtmann will be back soon: "Buchti took part in most of the session without any pain today. If he comes through the next few days and does well, I'm optimistic he'll be back on board."

Kauczinski then turned his attention to the Bielefeld game, saying he couldn't be satisfied with the first-half performance and had had to raise his voice during the interval. "It wasn't that bad, though. It's a matter of proportion, perhaps because I'm calmer otherwise. We knew how Bielefeld would come out in front of their own fans, given the situation they're in, and although we got into the game well, we then stopped playing. That's how I gave vent to my opinion."

His words bore fruit and an improved performance after the break culminated in a victory that carried his side to the top of the table for just over 24 hours. What does it say about a team who lead the standings with a goal difference of just one, Kauczinski was asked. His reply, delivered with a smile, was an appropriate one: "It means we're scoring more goals than we're conceding at the moment and that's good. We ruined our goal difference with the games in between. I once finished third with Karlsruhe with a goal difference of plus four. Goal difference needn't always be decisive in the end, it's points, and we got them. We're up there at the top and we're enjoying it."

With regard to being top of the league, Kauczinski continued: "I'm trying to wake people to the fact that it's nice to be top, that it's enjoyable, but that we can't let it befuddle us, it's just a moment in time. After one game you can be fourth or fifth again, but it's nice and we'll take it. We'll take everything we can – all three points and every league position, even if it only lasts one game."

Although Kauczinski sees room for improvement in certain areas (e.g. in terms of compactness and pushing up), he was pleased to note the following after the preceding 1-0 home defeat against Holstein Kiel: "To lose a game is normal. To realise you don't necessarily have to lose two in a row is important. That you can draw a line under one and come back without falling into a rut – that's important for how the rest of the season progresses. That you can remember being on the wrong end of a beating and then brushing yourself down and getting on with it."

Kauczinski is hoping his side can continue their successful run in the next few weeks and months, of course, but he had this to say on the accompanying euphoria: "There's no need to go mental, as everyone knows how tight things are, but we don't need to play things down either. We should enjoy the moment. We haven't had it given to us. Hard work got us there and hard work has allowed us to dig in at the top."

Photos: Witters