“We feel like we’re close”

Fabian Nürnberger has ankle problems and will be out. Added to this is Matthias Bader, who injured his thigh muscle. Fabian Schnellhardt also has problems with his thigh due to muscle stiffness. Otherwise, Clemens Riedel and Fraser Hornby are not there. Things are dragging a bit for Braydon Manu. He’s sometimes in and out of team training. Although he no longer feels pain, he does experience some fatigue that prevents him from completing a normal week of training. We now want to stress him individually so that he is at 100 percent and can complete a full week of training.

Marvin Mehlem and we, together with the medical department, have decided that he will carry out his treatment conservatively. I don’t dare guess how long the downtime will be. Unfortunately for Marvin, when he gets into peak condition, an injury sets him back. This is bitter for us, even more bitter for him. He was well on his way to regaining his old strength. It is therefore important that we continue to support Marvin so that he can find his way back. From every injury you have to come back stronger.

This game will include everything. Tactics will of course play a role. For the first time in a long time we face an opponent who will probably play with a diamond. Accordingly, there are tactical considerations as to how we should act against them. We also prepared for a lot of aerial duels on defense. We have to act quickly to collect the first and second balls. We want to find solutions with the ball to put the opponent in trouble. The intensity and toughness of duels are always high in the Bundesliga. That will also be the case against Augsburg.

We have to accept situations like the one in Bremen recently. We have to be resilient and want to influence what we can influence ourselves. This includes training and having a good plan on the weekend. In addition, we must never lose optimism. We feel like we’re close. We performed well even against in-form teams like Bremen, Stuttgart and Leverkusen. But perhaps we still need better performance and even more intensity to get the reward. But we can always look in the mirror before and after the games and say that we achieved a lot and did a lot. The trick is that we quickly find the right words. The boys have to get back into action quickly so that they can shake off one game and prepare for the next one.

They are three very sensible boys who really enjoy putting on the Darmstadt jersey and identify with the club from day one. They contribute very well to the team. As players, you want to help the team and the club stay in the Bundesliga. In terms of types, they fit Darmstadt 98 completely. With Gerrit Holtmann we saw what his strengths are. But we also knew that he and Sebastian Polter had little playing time. So we had to make sure we got them ready to play. We managed to do that well with Polti. Gerrit is now fit again and we hope that he stays fit. Things are a little different with Julian Justvan, as he has already trained and played at that level at Hoffenheim.