MAINZ 05 MATCH REACTION

Markus Gisdol: The situation is unusual for all of us. We played well to begin with, but we're lacking self-confidence and the results aren't good enough. We can only get back on track with hard work, and with Dortmund and Augsburg coming up, we just need to keep going. We don't have the time to feel sorry for ourselves; we just need to keep looking forward. The goal to put us ahead was exactly what we wanted, but we gave Malli too much space for his equaliser. With the way we're playing at the moment, we were unable to come back from going behind.

Martin Schmidt: We knew that we'd need to win our challenges and be the first to the second balls. I'd emphasised that to my team and they did it well from the start. We won most of our duels, which was extremely important. We deserved to win, I think.

Pirmin Schwegler: I don't know what the deciding factor was. We started the game well but we're giving away cheap goals. We're then forced to chase games, and it's a hard way to start the season. We're lacking belief at the moment and every week we find ourselves looking for explanations, which is incredibly difficult. We need to start from scratch. We're carrying a heavy burden, and in the second half we fell apart. The only way to get out of this rut is to work together and not allow our heads to drop. Now we will see what we're made of.

Kevin Volland: The fans will want to know what's wrong, and in truth we're lacking a bit of luck at the moment. I could have made it 2-1. We battled well and ran hard, but above all we're lacking in self belief. Nothing's working for us. We need to work hard to come out of this together. We're allowing our opponents too many chances. Yunus Malli just took the ball and fired it in – that was the difference between us today. Against Dortmund we need to give everything as a team. They run tirelessly, which will be hard for us, but we need to give something back to the fans.

Christian Heidel: The team with the greater desire won today. We were rocked when we went behind, but we deserved to win. We know that the boys have a lot of character and they work well together.

Yunus Malli: Today was obviously a lot of fun for me. It's fantastic to win and to get three goals. I can't describe the feeling that I, along with the fans, am experiencing right now. I love celebrating with them. The referee gave me the ball after the game, and I'll find space for it at home.

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