FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz: “If we’d taken the lead in the first half, it would have gone differently. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the reward for a really good performance in the first 45 minutes. It felt like Bielefeld fought their way back into the game with every minute. Eventually we were no longer able to ease the pressure and were punished for it. After that, and let’s be honest, we lacked the power to come back into it. We’re stable as a group and will recharge our batteries now and prepare well to face Darmstadt. The task for us in the next few games is to put ourselves in a reasonable position for the new year.”

Marcel Hartel: “We had a good first half but failed to take our chances. Bielefeld were braver in the second half and took the fans with them. Before their first goal I lost the ball in midfield. I should have kept my composure in that moment and played the ball round the back again. I’m sorry for the team in view of the effort we’ve put in this week without getting our reward.”

Connor Metcalfe: “The defeat hurts. We created the chances but didn’t do enough with them. It’s been a long week. We put a lot of effort in on Wednesday and gave it all we had again today. We have to recharge our batteries now and prepare for another tough game. The season’s a bit of a rollercoaster for us at the moment. One week we’re on a high, the next we lose. We have to become more consistent.”

Etienne Amenyido: “It was a good first half. The atmosphere would have changed in our favour if we’d scored then. In the second half we let them back into the game and left gaps that weren’t there before. We wanted to take the momentum with us but failed to do so and we have to accept that. Setbacks are part of the game.”

Fabian Klos (Arminia Bielefeld): "Today was about being ready from the start. After the defeat in the cup we said we wanted to keep it simple. Huge compliments to everyone. St. Pauli played well in the first half. We knew it would be a tough game.”

Photos: Witters