week 25 - match preview

Home form key against confident Hamburg side

Fred Rutten expects to come up against a highly motivated Hamburg SV side at the VELTINS Arena this Sunday (1700 CET). "HSV have built up a lot of confidence recently," he said. "So it won't be an easy task. But one thing is clear - we want to win."

The Royal Blues had no fixtures during the week. Hamburg, on the other hand, had to draw on all their reserves of strength to come from 2-0 down to beat Galatasaray 3-2 in the UEFA Cup in Istanbul on Thursday, though the Schalke coach does not feel this is necessarily an advantage. "HSV will come out fighting against us and they'll be after another win", the Dutchman said. "And a win like the one on Thursday will give them an added boost."

A view shared by Benedikt Höwedes, who scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture. "Hamburg will be very confident but we'll be up for the challenge", the 21-year-old promised. "We're still targeting a place in Europe after all. So obviously a win would be ideal."

Heiko Westermann took a similar line, saying: "HSV have a strong squad, even though a number of players are injured at the moment. So that's warning enough. But going into the game we're focusing entirely on ourselves and on getting three points on Sunday." The Germany international is confident the Royal Blues can do just that. "We may not be on the best of runs at the moment but we haven't lost at home for quite a while", he explained.

Rutten shares his players' confidence. "We've trained very well this week and working with the lads is great fun", the 46-year-old said. "We now have to reap the rewards for all our hard work by winning on Sunday." The Schalke boss has practically a full squad to choose from because the virus that cropped up ahead of last Friday's game in Wolfsburg is no longer hampering any of his players.

He does have two injury concerns, however. Marcelo Bordon has been unable to train due to a knee injury and it is not yet clear whether he will make the squad in time for Sunday's game. "The doctor will have another look at him and then we'll see", said Rutten. Levan Kenia is in a similar position. The Georgia international suffered a reaction to the workload after resuming full training during the week. He was therefore sent for a scan on Thursday morning but the results have not come in yet.