FC St. Pauli

Nikola Vasilj on…

…the goalkeeper discussion: "The important thing for me first of all is that I'm back from injury. It took longer than expected, which got on my nerves, so I'm just happy to be back. Ben Voll is a good guy and a great keeper. After the first few training sessions I was amazed how good he is. It's always good to have a strong team and that's what we have. We have lots of quality and we push each other. That's the most important thing for us. In the end it's the coach who decides who's the No1."

…his pre-season: "Unfortunately, I had to sit out the first two or three weeks. I think the team have adjusted well to the new coach and the new players. The mood in the camp is very good and the new lads have settled in really well. Everything's going in the right direction and getting better with every game. We're making steady progress and improving all the time. The results are good for our confidence but don't mean anything in terms of the next game. We have to keep working hard, as we've been doing week in, week out in pre-season, and then we'll see what happens."

…the forthcoming cup-tie against Halle: "We have to take the game seriously. Halle were in the third division a long time. It'll be a different game from the last two warm-up matches, as we'll probably have more possession. We'll also have to be as effective as we were against Atalanta."

Nikola Vasilj (seen here in training on Tuesday) was a mainstay in the 3-0 defeat of Europa League winners Atalanta Bergamo, his saves helping the team to keep a clean sheet.

…new goalkeeper coach Sven Van Der Jeugt: "The first impressions are good. He was very patient with me when I was injured and cautious when I came back. We've stepped it up bit by bit and improved a lot. He has a clear plan and things he wants to work on. It's going very well so far."

…his close ties with previous goalkeeper coach Marco Knoop: "I had a really good relationship with Marco. In football you never know, people come and go. He helped me a lot during his time here. I changed my view of goalkeeping a lot because of him. I'm obviously sad he's left us. For him it's the next step and a new challenge in his career. I wish him all the best and will stay in contact with him."

…the coming Bundesliga season: "It'll be different from the last one. It'll be difficult to play like we did last year. There's a lot more quality in the Bundesliga and we have to get used to that. We can't take too many risks. We have some good new players who can help us and our efficiency has improved a lot. We have to take the chances we get. For me it's always the same aim of not letting the ball in the net. Against Atalanta we saw we can play good football."

Photos: FC St. Pauli