HEIDENHEIM FACT FILE
Wednesday, 31. January 2018, 19:39 Uhr
A line has been drawn under the unfortunate home defeat by Darmstadt and the focus now turns to the next challenge on Sunday, when the Boys in Brown travel to FC Heidenheim (kick-off: 1300 CET). As usual, we've put together a few facts and figures on our forthcoming opponents.
Phenomenal Schnatterer
Marc Schnatterer is an institution in Heidenheim. The Heilbronn native has made 345 appearances for the club since arriving in 2008. In this time, he has scored 105 goals and provided 101 assists. The last time Schnatterer missed a league game was almost five years ago, a 2-1 win over Wacker Burghausen in the third division on 16 March 2013. Otherwise the attacking midfielder featured in all the other 37 games that season. Schnatterer's run since missing that Burghausen game is phenomenal. He has played in 168 league matches in succession, all of them from the start.
The face of success
Frank Schmidt is in his eleventh season in charge of the club. A native of Heidenheim, he played for the club from 2003 until 2007 and was captain when the side won promotion to the fourth-tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. He was appointed head coach in 2007 and in 2014 guided Heidenheim to the second division.
Home fortress
Heidenheim have won their last four home games, a run that has included victories over promotion candidates Nürnberg (1-0) and Union Berlin (4-3). Last time out they surrendered a 3-1 lead at MSV Duisburg to draw 3-3 after conceding a late equaliser. Heidenheim has not been a happy hunting ground for the Boys in Brown, who have failed to pick up a point in three visits.
Unaccustomed weakness
With 36 goals conceded in 20 games, Heidenheim have the worst defensive record in the league. That comes as something of a surprise, as a solid rearguard has been the basis for a consistently high level of performance since the club gained promotion to Bundesliga 2, which has seen the number of goals conceded fall each season (44, 40, 39).
An old acquaintance
Second in the goalscoring charts behind Marc Schnatterer, who has scored seven and made another nine, is former St. Pauli man John Verhoek on five. The striker made 74 appearances during his spell in Hamburg, scoring 11 goals. The Dutchman has already reached that total in his 44 games for Heidenheim to date.
Bad boy Wittek
Centre-back Mathias Wittek has got stuck in this season and already has eight yellow cards and one red to his name. His teammate Robert Glatzel leads the way when it comes to the number of fouls committed – 3.5 per game on average – more than anyone else at the club. A total of 46 infringements put the striker in second place in this category behind Union Berlin's Sebastian Polter (55).
Photos: Pressefoto Eibner
