FC St. Pauli

Timo Schultz on...

…the personnel situation: "I fully expect Eric Smith to resume full training today. Sebastian Ohlsson still has slight problems with the MCL in his knee and isn't likely to feature. The game comes around too early for Christopher Buchtmann and Ryo Miyaichi, but all the other players should be on the training ground."

…what he learned from the Düsseldorf game: "If things don't go so well occasionally, like when they scored, we have to keep faith in ourselves and the way we play and mustn't panic. We lacked composure and, to some extent, arrogance in our play. That's a step we still have to take as a team to gain more stability. But setbacks are part of the development. Düsseldorf are a really good side and fully deserved to win. You have to accept that sometimes, even though as a coach I never like losing. In actual fact, though, we've always managed to shake off any mishaps quite well."

…possible changes for the visit of Fürth: "I'm sure the odd player will start who didn't start against Düsseldorf. That's normal in a busy week. But we won't be conducting any experiments with four games left to play, we'll stick to our way of doing things. We'll definitely be sending out players who are 100 per cent fit. It'll be a high-intensity affair and we'll need full power on the field."

…the chances of finishing as the best team in the second half of the season: "First of all, the fact we're doing so well in that category is the reward for our work. On the other hand, we can't do anything with it. It's the season as a whole that counts and unfortunately, we have to include the first half as well, which leaves us exactly where we belong, i.e. somewhere in mid-table. We want to keep picking up points and finish the season as well as possible. We want to reward ourselves for the work we're doing and for our performances. That's the main objective of the team as well. We want to play as well as possible."

…opponents Fürth: "In footballing terms they're among the best three teams in the league. They've played consistently well all season and have a lot of individual quality, but they also function outstandingly well as a team. They'll come here full of confidence. You can look forward to a game where both teams will be thinking in attacking terms. We'll do a number of things to make it as hard as possible for Fürth but want to be proactive in getting forward. We want to show them we're no longer the St. Pauli from the reverse fixture."

…the promotion race: "Bochum have looked very solid all season, two wins at most will probably be enough to take them up. Fürth look solid as well, they've regrouped and have everyone on board. With Kiel, you don't really know what you're going to get because of the Covid situation and the resulting fixture pile-up. And our cross-city rivals have some important games coming up and will need to make sure they get some wins."

Photos: Witters