week 3 - match preview

Magath: "Won't let Hoffenheim's start put us off"

The Royal Blues go to Hoffenheim for the opening fixture of Bundesliga Week 3 on Friday (2030 CET) as league leaders. Though the home side are down in 14th place in the table, Felix Magath does not accept that his team are favourites going into the game.

"Hoffenheim are still a top five side as far as I'm concerned", the Schalke manager said. "With just two matches played so far this season, the table doesn't tell you much just yet. So we won't let Hoffenheim's start put us off. They've had tougher opening matches than we have." Ralf Rangnick's men drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the season opener before slipping to a 1-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen last week.

With Hoffenheim having just the solitary point to their name, Magath believes they will come out all guns blazing. "They'll be looking to win the game from the opening whistle", he predicted, before warning his players about the home side's strike force. "Though Vedad Ibisevic is not his old self yet after being out a long time with injury, he's improving with every game and is always a threat." The same goes for the Bosnian's strike partners, Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi, and the attacking midfielders. Magath said: "We'll have to be on our guard. But with the momentum we have from our opening two games we'll try to give as good as we get."

The Schalke boss has an unchanged squad at his disposal for the trip south. And Jermaine Jones may also be able to feature again soon. The midfielder is recovering from a hairline fracture of the shin and this week completed a number of individual drills and some light work on the ball. Magath was reluctant to name a date for his return to the squad, however, saying: "He has to know himself how he feels."