FC St. Pauli

...the personnel: "We had an extreme situation with nine players away on international duty. That really is a lot and we had a few injured players as well. There are three days to go until the game and we have to make the most of them. Elias Saad is suspended, and I can't say too much about Oladapo Afolayan or Philipp Treu yet. Lars Ritzka came through yesterday's session without any problems. As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see. All the international players returned unscathed."

...youngster Eric da Silva Moreira: "There's a very good chance he'll be in the squad. Players who are inquisitive and eager to learn, and humble and modest, fit in very well with FC St. Pauli and my team in terms of their character and profile. These are precisely the qualities he has. He also made an excellent impression on tour with the national team and played really well. We're delighted he's here with us and developing very positively. That said, it's important not to throw him in at the deep end too quickly. The second division is not something you can do in passing, you have to be well prepared. It's our responsibility and thus my responsibility to prepare him in such a way that he can become an important factor for us."

...making a tactical change given a possible shortage of wide players: "Anything's possible. We want to bring our identity and style to the pitch. For that we need clear patterns, though our positioning can vary. We've changed our formation in our last two games, so it won't be easy for Paderborn to prepare. Wanting to have similar patterns is a conscious decision because you're better when you stay true to yourself. That said, we still might tweak the lineup."

...SC Paderborn: "They're a team who can beat anyone in this league and have already offered impressive evidence of that this season. They're very flexible and able to adapt to the opposition. In Filip Bilbija they have an outstanding striker who has a good sense of depth but is also good on the ball in space. They have a clear target man up front in Adriano Grimaldi and an excellent transition player in Sirlord Conteh. It's apparent that they have different approaches, so we have to prepare for different scenarios. It's going to be a challenge but we're looking forward to it. I'm assuming they'll play with courage and tell themselves they have nothing to lose. They can only win here really."

...our own style of play: "Paderborn are sure to look at games where we've struggled. We may be confronted with topics that are unpleasant for us, including man-oriented marking. We have to prepare for a certain man-oriented press but also for a team who sit deep and compact and are quick in transition. We have to prepare for both because Paderborn are very good at both. We're at home and so it'll be about bringing our intensity and identity to the pitch again, carrying the fans with us and putting in another performance where we execute our basics."

...the media hype over our almost certain promotion: "We have to put the calculator away and not get involved in all the speculation. I emphasise week after week that in this extremely competitive league it's only ever about the next game and preparing as well as well as you can for your next opponents, in this case Paderborn. It's certainly not something the team are discussing. The biggest topic is how to beat Paderborn."

Photos: Witters