"WE AIM TO PLAY OUR OWN GAME" – KAUCZINSKI IN THE RUN-UP TO AUE
Friday, 14. September 2018, 17:58 Uhr
Bundesliga 2 finally resumes this weekend after a two-week absence. At the club news conference on Friday, head coach Markus Kauczinski talked about the work in training during the international break and the selection headaches he faces before the trip to Erzgebirge Aue.
As usual in the run-up to a competitive fixture, Kauczinski began with a summary of the injury situation going into Sunday's game. Jan-Philipp Kalla and Marc Hornschuh continue to work on their return to match fitness and are thus ruled out. Also sidelined are Bernd Nehrig (leg) and Luca Zander (ankle).
Two more players will miss out on the trip to Saxony despite making good progress on their return from injury. "Christopher Avevor has trained with the team twice now but the game at Aue comes around too early for him – especially in view of the busy schedule ahead of us," said Kauczinski. "Sami Allagui has resumed full training as well but again it's too soon for him to feature in the squad."
The St. Pauli boss thus faces a selection dilemma ahead of Sunday's game: "The injuries have thrown up a few question marks, so we've been trying various things in training as far as our defensive formation is concerned, including three at the back. There's a fierce battle for places and Florian Carstens could be an option for the starting lineup. We've tried both – Marvin Knoll could move up into midfield or he could play in a back three. We'll have a look at it and make a decision on Saturday." Up front, Kauczinski is spoilt for choice: "The lads in attack have looked very bright in training, so deciding who to go with won't be easy."
The 48-year-old has enough attacking options, then, and he will need them if his side are to take anything from the game. "We have a tough task ahead of us," he said. "Aue operate with either a back three or a back five and have shown themselves to be flexible in attack so far this season. I know our record against them hasn't been good, but we aim to put that right, as we did against Darmstadt."
That will require a focused approach: "We have to make amends for the last few games. To do so, we'll need to show the same appetite for goal, keep things tight at the back and defend better. It comes down to finding the right balance again and we've been working on that. We aim to play own game and be proactive rather than sitting back."
Photo: Witters
