FC St. Pauli

"The win at Magdeburg was a confidence booster," said Kauczinski at the pre-match press conference on Thursday. "We're delighted the hard work in pre-season has paid off." Against Darmstadt the Boys in Brown will be looking to carry on where left off last week, of course. "We go into the game on a high and are looking forward to it," continued Kauczinski. "It's going to be a cracker. Half past eight under floodlights, the fair next door and strong opposition ahead of us – bring it on."

The visitors staved off relegation last season after going unbeaten in 11 games during the run-in, finishing off with three wins in succession, and the St. Pauli boss is expecting a difficult evening. "Darmstadt are good opposition who've been very stable this season and last," he said before adding: "They're a very awkward, streetwise and physically robust side who switch the play quickly. It's a tough ask."

Kauczinski is confident his side can build on last week's positive start, however. "We're in good shape and showed at Magdeburg that we have team spirit and are prepared to battle. I'm optimistic that will apply even more so at home. That every game is different and you start from scratch is clear. It's going to be a hard-fought encounter that will be decided by little details, but with our verve and the right means we can win it."

Jan-Marc Schneider has recovered from the injury that kept him out last week, but Luca Zander has joined Marc Hornschuh and Jan-Philipp Kalla on the casualty list. "He took a blow to the ankle at Magdeburg," said Kauczinski. "It didn't look that bad at first, but it hasn't progressed as well as we were hoping." The 48-year-old has his sights on two potential stand-ins Zander: "Yiyoung Park and Jeremy Dudziak are the candidates," he said. "One is a slightly more defensive option, the other a slightly more attacking one. I'll sleep on it tonight and then make my decision."

Kauczinski also has a decision to make up front, where with Sami Allagui, Dimitrios Diamantakos, Aziz Bouhaddouz, Jan-Marc Schneider and new signing Henk Veerman all at his disposal he is spoilt for choice. The St. Pauli boss refused to commit at the press conference but didn't rule out including Veerman in his 18-man squad: "Henk is top fit and trained with us for the first time this morning. Even though he doesn't know the team that well yet, he could well be an option for certain situations."

Photo: Witters