FC St. Pauli

Timo Schultz on…

...the injury situation and possible changes to the side: "In Maximilian Dittgen, Etienne Amenyido, Philipp Ziereis and James Lawrence, we've had a few players return to training and we have three or four others where we'll have to see how they respond to the workload in training, judge what progress they've made and assess whether they're ready for 90 minutes. In general, the team has looked very stable in recent weeks, but on the other hand we have some experienced players coming back now, which gives us a few more options. We'll await the last two sessions before the weekend and then decide how we go into the game."

...the tight promotion race with all the top teams playing each other in the run-in: "The German Football League come in for a lot of criticism but are due some praise for coming up with a fixture list like this, given there are some real crackers in there, and not just for us. Looking at this round of matches, the top six go up against each other and it continues in that vein. What could be better? The excitement levels in the second division are really high and most games will be sold out from now on. I'd much rather have that than a load of matches with nothing to play for, and the best thing about it is that we're in the thick of it."

...the approach against a side of the calibre of Werder Bremen: "Adapting to the opposition is not exactly our strength. We always focus on ourselves and on playing our own game. Bremen have lots of quality in their squad and function superbly as a team. I think it's going to be an open game because Bremen like to get forward, too. We want to see a lot of the ball and be creative going forward, but we know we'll have to expect phases where we're chasing the ball and have to defend. Then it'll be about staying solid and winning the tackles."

...Bremen strikers Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug: "They both have their strengths in their finishing. They're good in the air and harmonise well. They have a lot of quality, but I have good central defenders, too. We have to keep a close eye on them, that's for sure, but you'll never keep them quiet for the full 90 minutes and that's when you need a good keeper. We have to deal with them as a team, puts lots of pressure on the ball and prevent them from getting into shooting positions. That's the job"

...opponents Werder Bremen: "They're a team who want to go up and being Werder Bremen expect to go up. We're in the running, somewhat surprisingly, but we're enjoying the situation and obviously want to win at home."

...the last four home games, which include three against promotion rivals: "We're the best home team and will do our utmost to ensure it stays that way with the support of the fans, who are capable of pushing us forward when things aren't going so well and can help us go up another gear in the last five or ten minutes. We're looking forward to a packed Millerntor and a great atmosphere. Everyone inside the ground will enjoy it, which is how it's meant to be."

Photos: Witters