FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin: "Congratulations to Frankfurt. We knew all about their quality. They did well with Omar Marmoush and Mario Götze in the half-spaces. It was so difficult to defend against and our holding players were too deep and not bold enough. That said, we stayed solid. Until they scored our problem was a lack of courage. We escaped their stranglehold a bit after that and showed more desire and tenacity. We were able to increase the pressure and create chances as a result. That we created them is good, we just have to start taking them now. We won't have much time to dwell on it as we go again in a couple of days. We have to keep working hard so we win games like these."

Jackson Irvine: "We have a chance to win any game when we play on this level. We've showed how dangerous we can be almost every game. Our defending in the second half was outstanding, exactly what was needed against the two Frankfurt counter-attackers. We do everything we can to create chances and do lots of things right until the final ball. We just lack a little bit then."

Carlo Boukhalfa: "It was a battle. We threw everything at it, hit the woodwork twice and ended up losing 1-0. It's obviously annoying. We were a bit unlucky for the goal, but you still have to stick it away like that. That's the quality Frankfurt have. We defended well, though, and could have taken some points. You don't get loads of chances against the top sides but there were still lots of positives today and we can go into the next few games feeling confident. They're important games. We're desperate to win them and I think everyone's up for it."

Hauke Wahl: "We didn't play badly, so the result is very disappointing. We were on a par with Frankfurt, which tells us we belong in this league. On the other hand, we have to look at our chance conversion. If you don't score, it gets tough. We've given too many points away, especially at home. We'll still take the positives, though. We have the next two games around the corner, and then we go again."

Eric Smith: "We were very strong in the second half and had already had some really good opportunities towards the end of the first half. It was even in terms of chances. The difference was that Frankfurt scored and we didn't. We had 20 attempts on goal in the end, which is positive. We can be happy with that against a top team. I hope we can keep it up because we'll get the goals then. The next two games are very important and we obviously want to win them both."

Dino Toppmöller (Eintracht Frankfurt head coach): "It's a good start to the new year for us. We did exactly what we set out to do. It was the game we were expecting. St. Pauli have performed really well against all the top sides. We played really well in the first 30 minutes and deserved to take the lead. St. Pauli gained the upper hand after that and had their chances. They played very well in the second half and we could have seen more goals. If you want to win away from home, you need a good goalkeeper and a bit of luck, which is why we won the game 1-0."

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters