FC St. Pauli

Kauczinski began with his customary review of the injury situation. Bernd Nehrig and Luca Zander remain sidelined, as do long-term casualties Jan-Philipp Kalla and Marc Hornschuh. Sami Allagui is back in training, but the game comes around too early for him. It wasn't all bad news, however: "Christopher Avevor has resumed full training," said Kauczinski. "We'll have to see how he's coped with the workload. If he gives the green light, I can see him playing."

The Boys in Brown have lost all three games without the centre-back but aim to return to winning ways at FC Ingolstadt, who lost 6-0 at VfL Bochum last time out and are anything but happy about the way they have started the season. "They have a lot of options in their squad, especially in attack," cautioned Kauczinski. "We don't intend to abandon our playing philosophy, but we do need to be better at recognising when we have to scrap.""

According to Kauczinski, the 11 players entrusted with starting the game face a particular challenge. "Both teams have been very frustrated recently," he said. "We have to pull closer together as a team and tactically and go into battle. Hopefully we'll get a good result." In saying that, Kauczinski recalled his last trip to his former club back in February, when the Boys in Brown secured a 1-0 win.

The St. Pauli boss and his team have come in for criticism after four competitive defeats in a row, but that was part and parcel of the game, he said: "The team have accepted the criticism and I know how to help them during this phase. We've made mistakes and that can happen. It's important to stay calm now and show that we stand together even when things aren't going so well. We go to Ingolstadt in good spirits and will give a strong performance."

Photo: Witters