FC St. Pauli

The league table made very different reading the last time the two sides met in early November. Union started the day fourth, level on points with third-placed Nürnberg, while St. Pauli were three points behind in fifth. A hard-fought contest in front of a sell-out crowd at the Alte Försterei looked to be heading for a goalless draw until Union striker Sebastian Polter struck in time added on, heading home a Christopher Trimmel free-kick from close range to lift his side into third overnight. The Boys in Brown lost ground in the promotion race, dropping back to sixth.

Five months later, the situation going into tomorrow's game is very different. Both teams languish in the bottom half of the table on 37 points. Markus Kauczinski's side occupy 15^th spot, with the Berlin outfit four places higher in 11^th – their lowest placing of the season – only by virtue of their superior goal difference. A play-off berth is still within reach, except this time it's the relegation deciders we are talking about not the promotion ones. In addition, the matchwinner in the reverse fixture, Sebastian Polter, is sidelined after tearing an Achilles tendon.

André Hofschneider's travel to Hamburg on the back of a five-game winless run. They slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Greuther Fürth two weeks ago and were held to a scoreless draw at home by MSV Duisburg last time out despite enjoying the lion's share of the possession. The Köpenick outfit have struggled away from home all season and have not won in eight games on the road since they beat Jahn Regensburg 2-0 last October.

At the pre-match press conference Kauczinski said it was time for his players to roll their sleeves up and fight. Besides the long-term absentees, Bernd Nehrig and Luca Zander (both muscle strains) are sidelined, while Jeremy Dudziak is suspended. For the visitors, only Fabian Schönheim (knee) is definitely ruled out alongside the aforementioned Polter. Former St. Pauli man Akaki Gogia has recovered from a ligament sprain and resumed full training last week, while defender Michael Parensen (MCL tear) is back doing running work.

Irrespective of the injury situation, the onus is on the Boys in Brown to pick up vital points in the battle against the drop on Saturday. Lasse Sobiech will start the game. His teammate Christopher Buchtmann, who returned to the starting lineup at Aue, is in fighting mood: "We have to play with fire and intensity, otherwise we won't stand a chance."

Photos: Witters