Hoeness: "A challenging situation"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "We have several absentees. There's almost a whole team missing. None of the injured players are set to return. Stefan Posch has served his suspension and is eligible to play again."

…the fixture schedule in the coming weeks: "Regardless of our opponents, the next few weeks are important. We know we need to deliver. We accept that. It's a challenging situation. We're looking forward and we're focused on finding solutions."

…the week of training: "I've seen a highly focused team. It's brilliant to have several training sessions in the space of a week."

…FC Schalke 04's negative run: "For us, the possible record is irrelevant. We're focusing on ourselves. There'll be an opposition analysis but it'll have nothing to do with Schalke 04's run."

…the number of goals conceded: "We're conceding too many goals. Too often, we fall 1-0 behind from the first chance. We need to work on that. We conceded two goals against Freiburg following a loss of possession. That's down to the attack as well. These are complicated topics and we're working on them."

The opposition's form:

FC Schalke 04's winless run in the Bundesliga started last season and now stands at 30 games. Coach Christian Gross' charges currently find themselves bottom of the table with only four points on the board. However, they did record a triumph in the run-up to Christmas: in the DFB Cup Second Round, Schalke beat Regionalliga side SSV Ulm to reach the Round of 16.

Head-to-head record:

TSG are on a four-match unbeaten streak against Schalke. In both of the last two seasons, Hoffenheim have won one and drawn one against the Royal Blues. The Kraichgau club will be looking to build on their positive overall head-to-head record (nine wins, seven draws and eight defeats) on Saturday.

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