FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz: “I’ve often complained about draws but we can live with this one today. It was a high-intensity second division game, though we have seen better ones here. We had our chances, but all in all Kiel had the better opportunities, so we’ll take the point even though we would have liked all three. In view of the performance and the way the game went, I’ll settle for a point. My lads gave it all they’ve got. There were one or two situations where I would have liked us to show more confidence and be braver, but we had our spells and our chances. I’d be happy to take a game where we aren’t the better side but still win it late on.”

Johannes Eggestein: “Obviously, we aren’t happy. We wanted more. You have to say, though, that Kiel weren’t bad today. It wasn’t easy to press them. They had the better chances and we can be happy with the result the way the game went, but given our position in the table it’s simply not enough. If you don’t score up front, you can’t concede at the back, and at least we managed that.”

Marcel Beifus: “I’m happy to have made my first start this season. It’s not great when you have to wait so long to get a game, of course, but you have to work hard and keep going. It’s a shame we couldn’t get a goal today and only took a point.”

Marcel Hartel: "I think a draw is a fair result. Both teams tried to go forward and had good chances to take the lead – though Kiel may have had more. We tried to operate with crosses. Occasionally we got through the middle and to the byline but then we lacked a little bit. When we did start to play football, we got forward well. When we didn’t play football, we handed Kiel the initiative and they were able to get the ball forward again. We don’t lack belief. We know exactly what we’re capable of. We now have one game left in the first half of the season at Karlsruhe. We want to give the fans another three points and end our negative run away from home. After that, we can recuperate, free our minds and then come back stronger."

Jackson Irvine: “That wasn't how we wanted to end the year at home. It's a point against a really good side but still, we aren't happy about drawing a blank and not winning the game as a result. We kept a clean sheet today, which is good, but we have to dominate at home and I don't think we did that well enough today. We have one game left and a couple of days to keep working hard in order to get a good result on Saturday.”

Leart Paqarada: “The positive thing is that we kept a clean sheet, but we wanted three points, of course. In the end, a draw is a fair result. There were phases where we were the better team, but Kiel had their chances as well. Two-match weeks are intensive, that’s clear. At the moment, we’re struggling to find the net, but at the back we’ve given little away. Kiel were only a threat from set pieces. There’s no point in having a negative mindset. We have a game at KSC on Saturday where we want the points, and then we have a long break in which to regroup.”

Marcel Rapp (Holstein Kiel head coach): “I’m very pleased with the performance and the point. We carried on where we left off. We worked hard off the ball. With the ball, we tried to play football and had good solutions. The first half an hour belonged to us, and it gradually evened out towards half-time. In the second half, St. Pauli had the edge but when I look at the chances, there was more in it for us tonight. We can be very satisfied. It’s about putting in a good performance. We wanted to show we’re Holstein Kiel and that’s what we brought to the pitch today.”

Photos: Witters