week 23 - match preview

Slomka mulling over team selection for Bielefeld

Schalke are still buoyant after reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, but now the focus is solely on the Bundesliga fixture at Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday. After three defeats in a row the Royal Blues are targeting a win again.

"We face another tough test in Bielefeld", said Mirko Slomka. The Schalke boss is hoping the historic success on the European stage will give the players an additional lift. "I could see smiling faces in the dressing room again, that's good", he said.

Slomka has had hardly any time to bask in his side's progression to the next round. "After the game in Porto I immediately directed all my attention to Bielefeld", he explained. "And when I got home yesterday evening I carried on and armed myself with information on them and pictures.

"The players have stood up well to the rigours of travelling. The flight back isn't quite so tiring when you win, even though you don't get so much sleep", said Slomka, who deliberately scheduled the final training session for Friday afternoon. "That gave the players a chance to have a lie-in and recharge their batteries", he added.

It remains unclear who will start for the Royal Blues in Bielefeld. Fabian Ernst and Rafinha are both suspended after collecting their fifth yellow cards against Bayern Munich last Saturday, so the Schalke boss will be forced to make some changes. "I have a number of options in my head. The game in Porto was very energy-sapping, so a certain amount of rotation is unavoidable."

The first priority is to identify an adequate replacement for Fabian Ernst in defensive midfield. "He's the brains of the team, so to speak", explained Slomka, "so the task now is to find a second brain." Levan Kobiashvili, Carlos Grossmüller and Gustavo Varela are all candidates for the job. Varela is also an alternative at right-back, however, along with Benedikt Höwedes. Yet Heiko Westermann could also play there if Christian Pander returns to the starting eleven at left-back.