week 25 - match preview

Royal Blues travel to Hannover in determined mood

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka intends to guide his team back to form when they take on Hannover 96 at his former stomping ground on Saturday.

"The players have trained well all week. They've put the recent defeats behind them and know exactly what's expected of them", emphasised Slomka. The individual errors that saw the Royal Blues concede three goals in spite of two battling performances have been discussed and put to bed. "We're looking forward and focusing totally on Hannover now," he said. The various discussions this week have all led to the same conclusion: "We have to look to what made us strong and return our former level of excellence." Slomka has told his players they have to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible and fashion more chances than they did in the second half against Hamburg, for example. Yet there was one thing his players could take from their recent home games, and that was "their unbending will to win."

Slomka's friendship with Hannover coach Dieter Hecking will again be put to one side for 90 minutes. But for the two professionals this is not a problem. "Our friendship has nothing to do with the game. In the week before a match we never speak on the phone", said Slomka.
Though the Schalke boss would have preferred to be playing in front of a home crowd, he knows he can count on the support of thousands of travelling fans in Hannover. And unlike in recent games when the visitors to the VELTINS Arena have been very defensive-minded, the Schalke boss expects the home team to play an open style of football. "I think Hannover will be under pressure after the defeat in Frankfurt. But they're not a team who pack their defence, so it's going to be an open game and we'll have to exploit the individual qualities that possibly make us that little bit better than Hannover."

Dario Rodriguez will not play a part, however, after picking up his fifth yellow card last week. Soren Larsen was forced to pull out of training on Thursday with an inflamed knee. A decision on the Denmark striker's fitness will probably be delayed until Friday, and this also applies to Gerald Asamoah's comeback. This week the 28-year-old powerhouse has taken part in every training session for the first time since breaking his leg in Nancy at the end of September and is therefore in the squad to face Hannover.