FC St. Pauli

…the injury situation: "There's no clarity yet as far as Christian Conteh is concerned and he'll undergo further examinations today. He isn't ruled out for certain, however, and I hope he'll be able to resume training tomorrow. James Lawrence and Dimitrios Diamantakos have made an excellent impression [in training]. Both were key players in the team before their injuries – James as the leader in defence and Dimi with his goal threat up top. His goals have been important for us. As a team we're happy that both are an option against Darmstadt again. We'll see today and tomorrow whether they'll start."

…the preparations for the game: "We have to approach the game fully focused and concentrated. We've put in the necessary work over the last few days and I hope we can build on our recent performances on Saturday, as they've been very impressive."

…SV Darmstadt 98: "They're a side who try to keep a very good shape and switch from defence to attack extremely quickly on winning possession. The two wingers are dangerous players with the pace to create dangerous situations. In Serdar Dursun they have a central striker who is meant to benefit from that. For us it will be important to be assured on the ball and stay in control. When we lose the ball, our defensive cover has to be good enough to ensure we aren't susceptible to counterattacks and don't invite our opponents to come at us."

…the next few weeks with five matches in 20 days, starting with the game against Darmstadt: "After a two-week break you never know how you're going to come out of it but that applies to all the other teams as well. You can't take for granted that you'll carry on where you left off. We have a tough schedule in the next few weeks with little time to rest between matches and so we'll need every player. It's great to have so many options and be able to react."

Photos: Witters