Ilzer: "We want to make things difficult for them"

Christian Ilzer on …

… the opposition: "It's not easy for any team to play in Freiburg. They're having a very good season. We know that we're being hosted by very good opponents who are playing for the chance to compete internationally. We've prepared well and want to make things difficult for them. We want to make sure that we keep adding points to our tally."

… the clash between the two teams from Baden: "We need to focus on our game. We've performed well many times when we've been playing away. For us, it's about sticking to the essentials. We want to use the momentum from our win against Mainz and improve a few aspects of our game. We want to make sure that we make good progress towards our minimum target - avoiding relegation."

… the mood within the team: "We came away from the Mainz game with a good result because we worked together well as a team. But we're still self-critical, we need to take control of the rhythm more often. We still want to be improving things at this stage of the season. This season hasn't just passed us by, and it wasn't easy. Our minimum target is to avoid relegation. With an eight point advantage and five match days to go, we aren't safe yet. A win would further improve our situation. But we shouldn't start playing the numbers game - we need to focus on bringing our top performance."

… aspects that still need improvement: "In the game against Leipzig, we performed better when we were in possession. We need to take positive steps in both directions. Strengthening the way we work together when our opponents have the ball is something we're focusing on in training as well. Set pieces are also an important area for improvement. Until now, we've only had good results from throw-ins, but we want to get better results from corners and free kicks as well."

… the personnel situation: "Alexander Prass has returned to training and is match-ready. Diadie Samassékou is still training individually."

… Gift Orban: "Last week we went for Haris Tabaković, because he was well-suited to the opposition. And he performed well. The nature of the game also meant that even when we were two goals up, it was still dangerous. That meant that we made substitutions that allowed us to stabilise the game. But Gift has been training well and is definitely an option for the game tomorrow."

… Oliver Baumann's 400th competitive game for TSG: "Oli has prepared well for the game, as always. It's always significant for him to play in Freiburg, regardless of this milestone. 400 is an impressive number, and it screams for a clean sheet. Our job as a team is to help him with that as best we can."

the opponents' form:

Freiburg beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 at the weekend, ending a streak of five consecutive games without a win. SC Freiburg are currently sixth in the table and have a chance at qualifying to play at European level. 

previous encounters:

The record is in SC Freiburg's favour. Of 29 Bundesliga games, Freiburg have won eleven, TSG have won six, and twelve games have ended in a draw.

Match facts and statistics »