Markus Gisdol: "We're never favourites in Hamburg"

Markus Gisdol on…

…their opponents

The change in manager in Hamburg has appeared to have the desired effect. I would liked to have played them a few weeks back. Their new signings have integrated well in the meantime and the team looks a lot more together. They battled for a 0-0 draw against Bayern, undeservedly lost against Frankfurt and deservedly won in Dortmund – their side is looking good. We won't be assessing HSV based on their current place in the table and I'm sure that they won't be at the bottom for long. We won't be travelling there as favourites. HSV is a good club and have a crowd that will be fully behind their team again.

…the personnel

Sejad Salihovic is still ruled out with his knee injury and Jin-Su Kim will also miss out. He pulled a muscle in the Asian Games semi-final and went onto play in the final. We can't hold it against him though. He delayed it for two years as he knew that he wouldn't have to perform military service if they won. The consequences for us and him are tough though. It could be four weeks until he's back in team training again. He can't go anywhere free of pain at the moment.

…tactics

I shouldn't put the brakes on just because of the headlines. We won't get carried away and will keep on plugging away quietly. Perceptions of us from the outside don't affect us. Ermin Bicakcic is back in the squad – and now we just have to think about whether he'll go straight back into the starting XI. We had to tinker the defence a tad due to his injury but it worked well. We have lots of back-ups anyway.

Recent encounters:

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim have come out on top in the Imtech Arena Hamburger SV six times. It will certainly be an interesting spectacle for the neutral with an average of four goals per game in this fixture. TSG fans should particularly hold their last visit to Hamburg in good memory: TSG made their intent clear with a 5-1 thrashing on matchday 2 of the last campaign. The sides had to settle for a draw in the return fixture last season: The Bundesliga ‘permanent fixtures' have won five of the 12 meetings between the teams, in addition to two draws.

Their opponents‘ form:

It has been a promising new start. Hamburg secured a 0-0 draw at home to record champions Bayern Munich in ‘Joe' Zinnbauer's first match in charge of HSV. The team spirit seems to have improved and the side appear to be back on track. They secured their next coup following two somewhat unfortunate defeats to Gladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt: A 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund away from home – just before the international break. HSV have stayed around the nether regions of the table, but their form curve is on the way up for sure.

The key battle:

New mentality for HSV: Optimism and peace has been restored to Hamburg courtesy of Josef Zinnbauer – particularly at the back. Hamburger SV have kept a clean sheet in two of the four games under the 44-year-old thanks to a compact and engaged back-four. Something remarkable: TSG have to reflect on their strengths – strong pressing and quick transitional play in order to unsettle Hamburg's back four constantly and effectively.

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