FC St. Pauli

New coach

Caretaker boss Michael Köllner has been in charge of FCN for the last four matches after former head coach Alois Schwartz, who only joined the club from SV Sandhausen at the beginning of the season, was sacked after the 1-0 defeat in the local derby against Fürth, the third reverse in a row. Köllner, previously head of the club's youth academy and Under-21 coach, made a promising start with a 1-0 home win over Arminia Bielefeld. His record since then has had its ups and downs, a 2-1 win over Karlsruhe sandwiched between 1-0 defeats at Union Berlin and Hannover 96. In the table the Franconians sit comfortably in 8^th place on 35 points.

Injury worries

Nürnberg have been unlucky with injuries since the winter break but Köllner won't entertain any talk of injury concerns or selection problems. The attacking department has been particularly badly hit with the loss of strikers Shawn Parker (meniscus injury) and Cedric Teuchert (cruciate strain) and midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri (meniscus injury). Before Friday's game there are question marks over forward Tim Matavz, right-back Edgar Salli, centre-back Georg Margreitter and defender Ondrej Petrak, while first-choice goalkeeper Thorsten Kirschbaum has been labouring with a stomach muscle injury and is also a doubt.

Loyal servant

Raphael Schäfer, 38, who has kept goal in the last four games, will deputise again if Kirschbaum is ruled unfit. The Polish-born custodian rejoined Nürnberg from VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2008 and has made 243 competitive appearances for the club since – more than any other current player. The winner of the Bundesliga 2 clean-sheet title in the 2008/2009 season has played seven times this term and conceded 11 goals. The equivalent player at St. Pauli is Jan-Philipp Kalla. 'Schnecke' has worn the brown-and-white jersey since 2003 and has made 140 appearances for the senior side.

Attacking drive

Nürnberg have had more attempts on goal (409) than any other side in the league, 304 of them shots. They are at their most dangerous when attacking down the right, from where they have already dispatched 178 crosses into the box. Only Erzgebirge Aue have hit more balls in from that side of the pitch (233). Nürnberg's desire to get forward is also reflected in the offside statistics. The referee's assistants have raised their flags a total of 67 times – joint highest along with VfL Bochum. By comparison, the Boys in Brown have been ruled offside just 48 times and registered 351 attempts on goal.

Indifferent home form

Nürnberg's eighth place in the table is not a product of their home form. Köllner's charges have recorded just five wins and a total of 18 points at Stadion Nürnberg, as the ground has been officially known since last summer. Under Köllner they have regained their confidence, however, winning both home games against Bielefeld (1-0) and Karlsruhe (2-1). Nevertheless, Nürnberg sit just 13^th in the home table, up from 17^th thanks to the recent home wins.

Head to head

Nürnberg may be better off in the league table but the Boys in Brown have a slight edge in the head-to-head record for the second division, picking up six wins in 17 meetings. Six games have ended all square, with Nürnberg winning five. Lienen's side will be looking to end a negative run on Friday evening, having not won any of their last five trips to Nürnberg. Their last away victory was on 20 May 2001, a 2-1 success that clinched promotion to the Bundesliga.

Photo: Eibner