week 19 - match preview

Schalke up against the league's most efficient attack

"We have to ensure to extend our unbeaten home run", said Mirko Slomka ahead of the visit of Alemannia Aachen. The Royal Blues have won six of their eight Bundesliga matches at the VELTINS Arena, lost none and conceded only six goals. Two players are in doubt for Wednesday's game, however.

Fabian Ernst and Levan Kobiashvili are both struggling with toe injuries. Ernst took a blow to the little toe on Thursday morning, while Kobiashvili damaged a capsule in his big toe as well as the nailbed in a challenge with Frankfurt's Benjamin Huggel on Saturday. Nevertheless Kobiashvili carried on until the 71st minute before finally making way for Zlatan Bajramovic.

Both players sat out training on Monday and then had a pain-killing injection to allow them to take part in Tuesday's session. Slomka is sure Ernst will be fit to face Aachen, but the Royal Blues intend to await Wednesday morning's training session before making a decision on Kobiashvili. "His injury is a bit of a problem", the Schalke boss explained.

In Alemannia Aachen the Royal Blues play host to the league's most efficient attacking team. "They've taken 20 of their 36 chances", said Slomka. "Our record is significantly worse than that." The newly promoted side have also enjoyed more success away from home, picking up ten points from eight games on their travels but only nine from ten matches at the Tivoli.

According to Slomka, Aachen's "dynamic strikers" are their main guarantee of success, and the loss of top scorer Jan Schlaudraff (gastric flu) will do nothing to change that. Aachen do appear to be susceptible at the back, though, having leaked more goals than any other Bundesliga side (36). "That's what we have to exploit", emphasised Slomka. "We want to go in front as early as possible."

This ploy has worked in seven of the last eight matches, of which the Royal Blues have won six. For Slomka this consistency is an indication of the positive way in which his players have developed. The team looks so solid that the Schalke boss is not overly concerned about the potential for disruption in the race for the championship. "We've experienced so many distractions so far this season and haven't let them affect us. We're simply getting on with the job."