Nagelsmann: "Winning games will put pressure on our rivals"

Julian Nagelsmann on…

…the personnel situation: "Joelinton is still injured and is not in contention for the match. Lukas Rupp trained well this week and is making progress but he is probably not ready for the squad. Dennis Geiger's condition has improved too. I hope he'll be able to play again this season. Reiss Nelson has returned to training and has made a very good impression. Robin Hack is still carrying a knock."

…the opposition: "There's no way of predicting how they are going to line up on Sunday. Hertha have often defended very deep against us, but they have recently been defending higher and man-to-man in the league. They have a few personnel problems and will probably need to adapt their formation accordingly. We've developed an idea that gives us room for manoeuvre."

…the match against Hertha: "We want to perform similarly to how we have done in the last two matches. I hope that the fans will show us more great support on Sunday. If we all pull together and perform like we did in Augsburg, then we will win."

…the possibility of making a late charge for Europe: "It brings back memories of our late charge last season. That remains our aim this year too and a must if we want to get there. We've done well recently and in terms of our play it's been a step forward. I hope we continue to perform well and of course we'll need a few results to go our way in other matches. Winning games will put pressure on our rivals."

…Ishak Belfodil: "He's made real progress, especially in terms of his willingness to defend and his timing. Offensively, he has always been good, he has superb quality. You can see that in every match."

The social media fan question of the week:

Is there a coach who has had a decisive impact on your development?

"I was lucky because I had lots of good coaches as a youth player. Starting with the two coaches I had at FC Issing. They helped me discover the joy of football and that's why I stuck at it. We had a great deal of success and took points against the big teams, such as Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich. Then I was fortunate that I had lots of good coaches in Augsburg and at 1860 Munich. There was nobody who held back my development."

The opposition's form:

Hertha have dropped down to 11th place in the Bundesliga table following a run of four successive defeats. Pal Dardai's charges had finished the first half of the campaign in eighth place.

Head-to-head record:

TSG Hoffenheim have a positive head-to-head record against Hertha Berlin from their previous 17 meetings in the Bundesliga (W7 D5 L5). Julian Nagelsmann's charges are currently on a six-match unbeaten streak against the capital club (W3 D3).