FC St. Pauli

Alexander Blessin on…

...the injury situation: "Eric Smith has tweaked his calf, so we'll have to wait and see. It could be a last-minute thing. Adam Dźwigała was feeling good again but then had a minor setback in the form of a cold and a temperature. The same goes for Scott Banks. I think they'll both be back tomorrow and will be available to play. Not much has changed as far as everyone else is concerned."

...possible replacements if Eric Smith misses out: "There are several options. We can slot Adam in, but we'll have to assess whether he's strong enough. Another option would be to switch to a back four. We could also use Lars Ritzka as a wide centre-half, where he's played before and done very well. I'm convinced we'll put out a strong team and push Stuttgart all the way."

...captain Jackson Irvine: "He always goes to the limit and does his utmost for the team. He'll give his all again at Stuttgart. The kilometres Jacko has put in, not just on a plane but on the pitch as well, is absolutely remarkable. You have to take your hat off to him. He's played the last two weeks with a slight muscle injury but he doesn't notice it during the game and it isn't hindering him. It's not as if we're taking a risk of him being sidelined for a while if we play him, but he'll need to break to nurse it."

...VfB Stuttgart: "They had a few problems in the beginning and struggled a bit with the changes. Besides Serhou Guirassy they lost Waldemar Anton and Hiroki Itō as well and had to reorganise their backline. They have a very good mix and individual quality. We have to be careful not to fall into the trap when they hit balls designed to tempt us out of position. They also like to make runs in behind. They have a lot of variety and quality in their play and are back on track after the problems they had early on. It's going to be a challenge."

...our own approach: "It'll be necessary to find a balance between freshness and a certain level of aggression. We aim to give our all again. Against Bremen we were lax in the tackle, and we have to do better there. We need to be quick in our actions, find the right spaces at the right time and win the tackles. We'll need to be at our best again at Stuttgart. We mustn't get drawn in and have to keep things tight. We did well in that respect at Leverkusen but not for the entire 90 minutes. We can't afford to make any big mistakes, and we've made a habit of that in the last few games. We aim to challenge them and put pressure on their backline and force them into mistakes. We've seen they're vulnerable there. It's no secret they've conceded a few goals."

...the significance of the final game before the winter break: " In Italy and Belgium we carried on playing and had a short break around New Year's Eve. You don't really have time to draw breath, and it's similar now. We have Christmas off and want to enjoy it. Our focus is fully on the final game, everything else is subordinate to that."

...the timetable for the winter break: "We'll travel back to Hamburg together and meet again the following day. We've drawn up a plan for every player to be checked by the medical department. Then we'll have a good feeling about letting the lads go for a few days."

Photos: Witters