Ending the run in the derby

Making up to do

Strangely enough, the Sinsheim outfit have drawn their last seven home games, a record in the Bundesliga. After the 7-1 defeat at giants Bayern Munich last weekend, Markus Babbel's team have something to make up for, and the derby game provides exactly that. The first thing the manager did after the debacle in Munich was to cancel the players' day off. “I couldn't and didn't want to allow us to get back into our normal routine”, declared Babbel determinedly. The team have been studying videos and analysing the game to make sure they learn the lessons from last week. Now the focus is firmly on the coming games.

Babbel's first managerial post

Stuttgart will be greeted by a welcome and familiar face when they come to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena this Friday. Babbel's first job in football management was at VfB in 2008. “I had a great time there, a lot of good experiences and I still have some contact with the club”, says the former Liverpool defender, now in charge at TSG. “But I still want to win this game.” Stuttgart are an opponent with huge quality in attack, and Hoffenheim will need to call on all their reserves of determination to beat them. But for the manager, that remit was clear from the start, even before the heavy defeat to Bayern. “Stuttgart will make it difficult for us and we'll have to produce a big performance to beat them. But if we can do that, a win is always possible.” A win for 1899 could take them to ninth place and 33 points, level with their local rivals.

Schipplock to return

Striker Sven Schipplock is pushing for a recall to the squad after returning to first team training on Wednesday. He is another ex-Stuttgarter, and will be especially motivated going into the game. Sejad Salihovic is also pushing for a return, after he was removed from the squad for two games following a breach of club discipline. Fabian Johnson is rated as 50-50 with a bruised thigh. Srdjan Lakic, on loan from Wolfsburg, is still out with knee ligament damage, but is making good progress on his way back to fitness. Long-term absentees Andreas Ibertsberger and Matthias Jaissle are still sidelined. On the plus side for Hoffenheim, Stuttgart's Martin Harnik is a doubt for the game. The Austrian hitman has scored 14 Bundesliga goals this season. Bosnian forward Vedad Ibisevic, formerly of Hoffenheim, will also return to the club he left in January after four and a half years.

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