FIRST TEAM
08/23/2011

Interview with Andres Ibertsberger

Andreas Ibertsberger is a born fighter, having come back from injury countless times. This season the Austrian defender missed almost all of pre-season, but is now on his way back to fitness. Achtzehn99.de caught up with him for a chat.

Andi, for the last two games you've been on the bench. Do you feel physically to play in the Bundesliga now, or are you lacking something?

The only thing I don't have right now is match practice. Training is going really smoothly again for me, I feel fit and able to withstand the pressure of football. But in a match it's different. You have to be automatically ready; it's hard to go straight back into a match mentality.

That's why you decided to play with the Under 23s team on Sunday against Greuther Fürth. Were you pleased with your performance, despite the 2-1 defeat?

I wasn't that happy really. It was important for me to play a full 9o minutes and to get some playing time as well. But I knew before the game that things don't just fall back into place instantly, so it was that surprising for me to find that I still have work to do.

After three matches, and despite a tough run of fixtures to begin the season, you have six points on the board. What do you think is the reason for this good start?

A large part of that is down to the manager. He's brought a fresh look to the place, and a good mix of fun and professionalism. But we should keep a sense of perspective here. We have only played three games and there's a long way to go yet.

How do you rate your chances of getting back into the team?

Hard to say really. I just have to be patient and wait for my chance. The team is playing well right now, so the manager can't be expected to make changes. But I've been in a situation like this before and know what it's like trying to force your way back into the side after injury.

Let's think about Saturday's game for a moment. In the games against Bremen there are usually goals – the last meeting at the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar Arena ended 4-1. What type of game do you expect?

I'm hoping for an attacking game with some entertaining football for the fans. Bremen's attack is very strong, as people know. We have a lot of quality in our side as well, but we have to be careful that they can't use their individual creativity too much.

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