FC St. Pauli

Alexander Blessin on…

...the injury situation: "The players all came through the Bochum game unscathed – with the possible exception of some headaches. Everyone should be fit. Johannes Eggestein resumed training yesterday and we're assessing how he's reacted to that. He may well feature again. Elias Saad will return to the squad against Union Berlin at the latest. He needs another full week of training to be really stable. He's fired up and chomping at the bit. We're getting a key player back and are happy about that."

...whether he will rotate at the end of a busy week: "There are always two aspects to this: the way we want to play and the freshness of the players. Adding more oomph in the tackle or a bit more pace and freshness is always important. I have some situations in mind that I think could do us good. You can definitely expect some changes."

...starting the year with two defeats: "There's no reason for us to stick our heads in the sand. The first half of the campaign is over. We're still above the drop zone and it's getting tighter and more exciting. The task for us this week is to flick the switch as soon as possible so we can exit the three-match week feeling good."

…how to avoid falling into a negative spiral: "Defeats like the one against Bochum have to hurt. You have to see it on people's faces. I talked to the lads about it yesterday and told them in the analysis session that from today it's about being totally focused on the game and also about being positive. It was clear when we went into the season that there'd be games like that. It's important for us to focus on our strengths. We've drawn a line under the defeat and will train full of energy before travelling to Heidenheim. And then we'll lay down a marker. We have to."

...Heidenheim's last-minute draw at Bremen: "That put them on four points since the winter break, so they'll be feeling a bit more confident. Late goals like that free up energy. We always say we're focusing on ourselves. If we play to our potential, as we've often shown, we're a match for anyone. We have to regain our confidence through hard work."

...Heidenheim's pace: "We remember the home game well. We were very dominant and did lots of things right but got caught on the break twice. That serves as a warning, of course. We have to be tidy in our rest defence, but it will also be a question of how much pressure we can put on the ball. That's a principle: if we have pressure on the ball, we can have a different one-on-one situation at the back, but if we don't, I want more cover."

...the approach going into the game: "There are no excuses. We should have found better solutions at Bochum, simple as that. The question now is how we react. That will be key. We have to be clear in our minds. We had a lot of actions at Bochum where we defended going backwards. We didn't have the courage or the desire to help each other. It wasn't how we set out to play. There are clear principles and we have to stick to them even more."

Photos: Witters