FC St. Pauli

The Hürzeler XI signed off what was an excellent year with a 1-1 draw against Wehen Wiesbaden just before the winter break. Personalised training schedules ensured the players stayed fit during the pause and were more than ready for the first joint session of the new year on Tuesday, when preparations for the league resumption at home to FC Kaiserslautern on 20 January began. The session was switched from the Kollau training complex to the Millerntor Stadium at short notice due to the sustained rainfall of recent weeks.

Before taking to the pitch, the outfield players received the customary team talk in preparation for the next couple of weeks in the South Stand ballroom, while goalkeeper coach Marco Knoop put "his shotstoppers" through a warm-up routine elsewhere. In general, Fabian Hürzeler placed the focus on working with the ball in the form of passing drills and game-related exercises, each with a different focus. After the 90-minute session, the boss was full of praise for his players, saying: "The lads made a fantastic impression and immediately set about working on various aspects. We don't have much time until the first league game, but we want to take advantage of it. The lads did very well – with lots of euphoria and concentration. We'll look to build on that over the next few days."

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler was very satisfied after the opening session.

Academy players Kevin Jendrzej, Tjark Scheller, Max Marie and Gwangin Lee (Under-23s) plus Muhammad Dahaba and Eric da Silva Moreira (Under-19s) all took part in the session, though Carlo Boukhalfa and Maurides both have slight colds and were absent. Also missing were Scott Banks (in rehab after his cruciate tear) plus Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe, who are with Australia at the Asian Cup in Qatar, which begins on Friday, 12 January. The Socceroos will play India (Saturday, 13 January), Syria (Thursday, 18 January) and Uzbekistan (Tuesday, 23 January) in the group phase.

With the exception of the two Australians, Hürzeler will leave Hamburg this Wednesday with a full squad for the club's winter training camp in Benidorm, which will run to Sunday, 13 January. "The focus will be on the balance between defensive stability and attacking goal threat," he said. "We aim to find solutions for opponents who sit back or operate with a high press and rediscover our desire for keeping a clean sheet."

After an impressive first half of the campaign which saw the Boys in Brown remain unbeaten, Hürzeler wants to see no let-up in the second half. "My coaching team and I have to keep coaching the players with a view to the details," he said. "We have to focus on the minutiae and have consistency in our actions. What we've achieved so far is in the past. We now have to focus on the factors we can influence ourselves."

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters