FC St. Pauli

...dealing with being injured for so long: "There were times when things didn't go so well in rehab. The pandemic wasn't an easy situation for me. I drove to rehab on my own and reeled off my programme. I did see the guys from time to time, but usually only when we did a Covid test. I missed the dressing room, I felt it really strongly. All the jokes and chat with your teammates. I wanted to get back, go flat out and be part of the team again. I'm glad it's turned out the way it has."

...the reasons for the good performances: "It's super important for us to know exactly what we want to do on the pitch. We're executing the moves the way we do in training. The coaching team and everyone else involved have a super plan. It took some time to take it on board, but from January on, the lads did a great job of putting it into practice. We're carrying that on now. If the plan doesn't come off occasionally, you have to keep going and stick at it, and that's what we're doing. We all pull together. It started during the last winter break and we've kept it going. The team spirit is excellent, we're a close-knit group. We have an incredibly hungry team. Everyone's up for winning at the weekend."

...his goal against Ingolstadt: I thought the shot was a bit soft at first, but it was enough. It was a great feeling. I want to keep going now and build on it. I'm just enjoying being back. It's awesome when you score goals like you used to."

Christopher Buchtmann came on against Ingolstadt with the score at 3-0, and after the visitors had pulled one back, immediately restored the three-goal advantage with his first goal since his return from a lengthy injury layoff.

...his contract, which expires in summer: "It's only September, so it's too early to talk about that but it's no secret I'd like to stay here, as everyone can probably imagine. I'll keep giving my all for the time being and then we'll see what happens."

...his stated aim of becoming the 'old Buchti' again: Driving towards goal, scoring and making goals, and being in the thick of things was the hallmark of my game before and that's where I aim to get back to. It won't happen overnight, but bit by bit. I'll stay patient and I'm sure Schulle has a good plan with me."

...the goals for this season: "We have to keep pushing and playing the way we know we can. If we do that, we can stay in contention at the top. Everyone says it, but we'll continue taking every game as it comes. It's always served us well. It's important for us to play to our potential and not get sloppy like we were at Hannover. That's the only way to stay in contention."

...this season's away form and the game at KSC: "We didn't get our reward at Aue because we didn't take our chances. The Paderborn game didn't begin well for us with the red card but we still played really well and could have won. The Hannover game was the only one where we failed to get a result because we didn't play to our potential. Things will have to click into place sometime. KSC are amazingly good opponents under Christian Eichner, so we'll have to go to the limit again. It looks like a really good ask for us."

Photos: Witters