FC St. Pauli

“Marc Hornschuh and Jan-Philipp Kalla are ruled out against Stoke,” the St. Pauli boss said.  "Marc is increasing his workload and is making good progress but it will be a while before he can resume full training. Schnecke still has problems with his pubic bone and it’s difficult to say how long he’ll be out but he’s also making good progress.” Yiyoung Park is another who misses out. Kauczinski: "Yiyoung has a slight thigh problem and won’t play against Stoke but that’s purely a precautionary measure." Luis Coordes and Jakob Münzner will be in action for the Under-23s next week and will also not feature in the squad.                                    

"Otherwise everyone could get a run-out tomorrow in theory,” said Kauczinski, satisfied with all the options at his disposal. "We’re in the final phase of our preparations and will vary our substitutions tomorrow. The battle for places is in full swing and all the lads have trained well, which gives us the opportunity to play different systems. We want to out in a feisty performance and we’re looking forward to playing in front of our fans. It’s going to be a nice day for everyone tomorrow."

While the competition for places in the starting lineup remains fierce in certain positions, Kauczinski has already selected his first-choice goalkeeper: "Robin Himmelmann will play tomorrow and go into the season as our No1. All our keepers have come on in the summer and it was tight race but in the end it was the overall package that tipped the decision in Robin’s favour."

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Information on the season launch festivities and the friendly against Stoke City:

• Start on the South Stand concourse: 1130 CET
• Gates open: 1400 CET
• Kick-off: 1530 CET
• Autograph signing: from approx. 1830/1900 CET

Photo: Witters