Breitenreiter: "The net has rippled quite often in training"

André Breitenreiter on…

 …his approach to the double-header:

"We're preparing ourselves for the match on Friday. Since we don't know the outcome, it's difficult to think about the second game. But we certainly want to progress to the next round in the cup. In the Bundesliga we want to go to Schalke, pick up the three points and get our reward for our good performances in recent weeks when we weren't successful."

…special feelings ahead of facing his former club:

"It's not my first game against Royal Blue since leaving Schalke. As a coach, it's quite normal to meet an ex-club every now and then; it doesn't trigger any different emotions for me than matches against other clubs. I've never held any grudges against Schalke. They're a fantastic club, I felt very comfortable there and I still have many friends there. But my time there was six years ago now – it's in the past."

…the situation facing the under-pressure Schalke coach Frank Kramer:

"We don't know how Schalke will deal with it and approach the game. I can't and don't want to evaluate that; it's not my place. As usual, we've prepared ourselves very precisely and in the best-possible way, and want to get three points. But we also know that we'll come up against a team that will give everything and try to turn the game in their favour."

…his expectations regarding the opposition's style of play:

"We're prepared for a back three and a back four; last time out in Leverkusen, they switched systems in the second half. We'll try to exploit the weaknesses we've analysed. They have big players, and recently they've increasingly opted for long balls; we have to be prepared for that. They're a strong team that offers up everything, and we expect a great atmosphere. But we want to use it to our advantage, radiate self-confidence and start the game well. Above all, we want to put our stamp on the match and show that we want to win it. I'm confident our quality will be reflected in the result."

…former Schalke player Ozan Kabak:

"Ozan feels unbelievable comfortable here and is returning to his former strength. He gives a fantastic account of himself, has made a very good contribution from the beginning, and we can all see how tenacious he is in the challenges. We're very happy that he's with us."

…training during the week:

""We've been working on our finishing in training every day and on our mental strength too. We need to start scoring again; we've missed too many chances recently. That's why we did a lot of work on our automatic processes in order to bring back that self-conviction. I can't score the goals myself, but as a former striker I do put myself in the lads' shoes. And that's how I know that a lot is going on mentally and that the ball has to go into the net again and as often as possible – in training too. The more often that happens, the more confident they'll become again. And the net has rippled quite often in training. The trend will start to curve upwards, I'm confident of that. The mood in the team is very good too, because every player sees how well we're playing and how well we're developing."

The personnel situation:

The whole squad is available with the exception of Ermin Bičakčić, Benjamin Hübner (both fitness training) and Ihlas Bebou (knee problems).

The opposition's form:

Schalke 04 have lost three Bundesliga games in succession and have dropped down to 16th place, with six points from their nine games. They succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen last weekend.

The head-to-head record:

TSG have the superior record from their 26 previous meetings: Hoffenheim have 10 wins versus Schalke's nine, while there have been seven draws. Hoffenheim have picked up five wins and three draws from the last 10 clashes, losing only twice. TSG have a positive head-to-head record as a result of that. The last meeting between the two clubs in Sinsheim ended in a 4-2 victory for Hoffenheim.

Match facts and statistics »