FC St. Pauli

The Boys in Brown played well and fought to the last minute against Union Berlin but it was not enough to earn them a point. Nevertheless, the players remained upbeat despite the 2-1 reverse. "If we keep playing like this, I'm in no doubt we can get back to winning ways," said Aziz Bouhaddouz after the game. "You can't walk over teams for the entire second half of the season," added Christopher Buchtmann after a five-game unbeaten run had come to an end. "There are always going to be setbacks."

Maintaining that vein of form will be no easy task against promotion chasers Hannover. "We have to be up for it from the word go," said Lienen. "They have an incredible range of attacking options and are capable of producing a goal out of nothing. We need to be fully focused throughout the 90 minutes and into any stoppage time." This will be especially valid in the final half an hour, when the visitors have scored 24 times this season, more than any other team in the league. Lienen has also focused his preparations on the threat from set pieces, which has brought Hannover 17 goals already this term.

Though they sit third in the table, the mood in the Hannover camp is not as good as it should be. General manager sport Martin Bader and head of first team affairs Christian Möckel were dismissed after the recent 2-0 defeat at Karlsruhe and replaced by Horst Heldt as the new director of sport. Head coach Daniel Stendel, whose job is on the line according to some pundits, stayed on and celebrated a 1-0 home win over 1860 Munich last week thanks to Martin Harnik's 13^th goal of the season. After the game club boss Martin Kind confirmed that former St. Pauli man Stendel would take his place in the dugout at the Millerntor. "They've increased their confidence and are more of a threat in front of goal," said Stendel of the Boys in Brown. "It's going to be a challenge."

That win over the Lions confirmed Hannover's status as the best home team this season (9 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat). Away from home their record is 4-4-4. At the Millerntor the Lower Saxony outfit are undefeated in five. The last time they returned to Hannover empty-handed was in April 1994. Time for that to happen again, then, and Lienen's side will be going all out to avenge the 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture. For Buchtmann, the Boys in Brown will need to go about their business with the necessary "bite and aggression" if they are to secure their fifth win since the resumption against a strong Hannover team.

In Christopher Avevor (muscle problems), Johannes Flum (groin strain) and Lasse Sobiech (one-match ban), Lienen will be without three players in his bid to earn more precious points in the battle against the drop. Sobiech will be replaced by either Philipp Ziereis or captain Sören Gonther.

Photo: Witters