FC St. Pauli

Kauczinski will be without several defenders on Saturday: "Besides our long-term absentees we'll also be without Lasse Sobiech, Luca Zander and Maurice Litka, and Christopher Avevor and Philipp Ziereis are doubtful as well. Christopher had to pull out of training yesterday with tight muscles, and Philipp had back problems after yesterday's session. Neither trained today as a precaution. But in Brian Koglin and Florian Carstens (Under-23s) we have additional central defenders at our disposal. Players such as Johannes Flum and Jan Philipp Kalla can also play there, or we could switch to a back three."

For all his injury worries Kauczinski is still looking forward to it: "It'll be a red-hot atmosphere at the Betzenberg. We can look forward to a hard-fought, high-intensity game. We need to be up for it and go into the game with the same energy as in our recent matches. Anything can happen in a game like this."

Though Kaiserslautern are desperate for points to keep in touch with the teams above them in the battle against relegation, Kauczinski does not expect them to come out with all guns blazing: "I don't think they'll go all out from the beginning, but they're flexible tactically and able to adapt their strategy during the game."

Kauczinski concluded with a few words on the club's goals for the rest of the season: "All the remaining games are finals and will determine where you finish in the end. We aim to win as many as possible, show plenty of heart and passion, play good football and entertain the fans."

Photo: Witters