week 31 - match preview

Hannover no pushovers, says Büskens

The Royal Blues entertain Hannover 96 at the VELTINS Arena on Saturday looking to repeat their 3-2 success from the reverse fixture, a win that saw them end 2007 with ten points from a possible twelve after a brief dip in form. "That's nice, but it's in the past now", said caretaker boss Mike Büskens. "And just because we're six points clear of the team in fourth place doesn't mean we're safe."

Büskens feels it would be fatal to speculate on the results that Schalke and the other teams in the top third of the table may or may not get. "We need to concentrate on ourselves and the team we face next", he said. Because the objective is to qualify for the Champions League. "Preferably automatically by finishing second in the Bundesliga, of course", continued Büskens.

It would not be appropriate to claim that the Royal Blues are as good as certain to finish second, however, just because Werder Bremen have the more difficult run-in on paper, with trips to Hamburg and Leverkusen.  "It won't happen just like that, that's for sure", warned Büskens. "Hannover are no pushovers and we have to make sure we do our job right. Our recent results are just a snapshot, so we have to keep up the pace. We need to take each game as it comes, it's as simple as that."

Büskens is looking forward to Saturday's game with great relish. "In Mike Hanke and Sergio Pinto, who's suspended unfortunately, Hannover have two players in their ranks who I played with in Schalke's second team.

"That both of them have now established themselves in the Bundesliga shows that our youth work is bearing fruit year in, year out." Büskens couldn't resist a little dig at Hanke, however. "He hasn't scored once in five games against Schalke. Let's hope it stays that way."

Büskens wants his team to knock the ball around better than they did last time out in Hamburg. "We need to improve our finishing and stop giving the ball away unnecessarily. Because that costs energy", he concluded.