week 11 - match preview

Royal Blues target continued progress in Cottbus

Schalke assistant coach Mike Büskens, representing Fred Rutten at today's pre-match press conference, was in optimistic mood ahead of Saturday's trip to Energie Cottbus.

"I don't think the 3-0 win in Karlsruhe will see us getting careless", the 40-year-old told journalists. On the contrary, Schalke know only too well from previous visits to Cottbus that they are anything but easy. Almost a year ago to the day, on 2 November 2007, the Royal Blues slipped to a 1-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture.

Energie's home ground might be called the Stadium of Friendship, "but you don't get any presents on the pitch", said Büskens. "Cottbus are a team who always battle as hard as they can. We'll need to rise to the challenge and hold our own before we can start playing football. We're much better than them at that."

Schalke showed how it can be done in November 2006, when they won 4-2 in Cottbus thanks to goals from Hamit Altintop, Kevin Kuranyi, Christian Pander and Levan Kobiashvili.

The Royal Blues travel to eastern Germany looking to carry on where they left off against Karlsruhe. "We're on the right road at the moment and are determined not to lose our way", emphasised Büskens.

"We've had a very busy programme just recently and so it's important to have a big squad full of top-class players. Ten years ago we could only dream of having so much quality at our disposal", the Schalke stalwart continued. "Now we're glad to have so many good players here."

This is especially important because it gives Schalke the luxury of rotating the squad. "That's par for the course at all the top Bundesliga clubs", he continued. Bayern Munich's Tim Borowski, who has come on as a substitute in eight of the ten matches so far and heads the club's scoring chart with four goals, is a prime example. Büskens: "It just goes to show that a player doesn't always have to be in the starting line-up to be a key factor for the success of a team."

Accordingly, no decision has been taken as to who will start in Cottbus. "Almost everyone is fit", said Büskens, describing the happy selection dilemma facing Fred Rutten. Only Christian Pander (calf) and Levan Kenia (ankle) have been ruled out of the trip to Cottbus. "Christian is set to resume full training soon. But Levan needs a little while yet", he added.

Though Rafinha was restricted to just a few laps round the training ground on Thursday, and Jefferson Farfan didn't train at all, they will be available for selection. "With our current busy schedule it's normal for the odd player to have a niggle or two or need to take things a bit easier", explained Büskens. "There's no danger of them not being able to play."