week 6 - match preview

Royal Blues out to regain trust in Leverkusen

Sunday's away game at Bayer Leverkusen is about much more than consolidating Schalke's position at the top end of the Bundesliga, and the players know only too well that they are to blame.

After the UEFA Cup exit in Nancy head coach Mirko Slomka naturally took the ramifications of Thursday's defeat into account when looking ahead to Sunday's match. "The players know they have destroyed a lot of hopes and dreams. For us it's now about regaining people's trust. We made that very clear on Friday morning when we went over the match in Nancy", the 39-year-old said.

The players had to learn a very important lesson, he said. "In Nancy we lacked power in the tackle. In this respect the form of some players has been up and down this season, which is unusual. It's not the first time this has happened away from home. We saw it in Berlin and during the first half in Aachen." Slomka therefore wants to see a very different side in Leverkusen on Sunday.

This is especially important now after the Rhinelanders experienced the feeling of success on Thursday in beating Sion to progress in the UEFA Cup: "After not such a good start in the Bundesliga with just one win it will obviously have given them confidence", said Slomka, "and so they'll be approaching the game against us in a completely different way."

The Schalke boss will be without Gerald Asamoah (broken leg), Sören Larsen (partial cruciate ligament tear) and Christian Pander (back in training after a serious knee injury). A decision on Fabian Ernst (adductor injury) will not be taken until Saturday. Mladen Krstajic is back from suspension, however.