FC St. Pauli

"Nothing has changed really," said Lienen regarding his selection difficulties. Aziz Bouhaddouz is back from the Africa Cup but will probably miss the game due to illness, as will captain Sören Gonther, Christopher Avevor and Joel Keller. The game also comes around too early for Philipp Ziereis, Vegar Eggen Hedenstad and Ryo Miyaichi. "We made it a principle that players need to have been in full training for a few days before they can be used in a competitive fixture", said Lienen, who has had to deal with a large injury contingent throughout the season.

In Daniel Buballa (one-match ban), the 63-year-old will be without yet another first-team regular on Sunday. "Marc Hornschuh is a candidate, as is Richard Neudecker, who knows the position from his time at 1860 Munich." The decision on who will fill in at left-back will also depend on Braunschweig's potential choice of winger. "Nik Omladic has a powerful shot on him and takes good set pieces, while Onel Hernandez is a fast dribbler," said Lienen.

Given their impressive home form, it will be no easy task at Braunschweig, as Lienen is well aware: "If their away form was anything like their home form, they'd be clear at the top by some distance. At home they've taken 25 of their 35 points and scored 21 of their 30 goals, of which seven have come from set pieces." Lienen was also full of praise for the Braunschweig squad and their head coach, Torsten Lieberknecht. "Torsten is one of my favourite colleagues, we get on really well," he said. "He has a good team around him and has been doing a great job for years." Lieberknecht has been in post for nine years, a sign that continuity is important in Braunschweig.  "I like that," said Lienen. "Clubs are successful whenever there's continuity on all levels."

While Eintracht have occupied a promotion place since the opening day thanks to their consistency, the table doesn't make pleasant reading for the Boys in Brown. "It's been like that all season," said Lienen. "We shouldn't concern ourselves with it, though. It's counter-productive to look at the table. When you're down at the bottom, it can drag you down. If you're at the top, you can celebrate yourself too much. We have to take each game as it comes. We want to win games, pick up points and in doing so try to change the situation and improve it. That will only happen if we're focused every day."

Photo: Witters