“I hope that we won’t see a repeat of the first half” | OneFootball

Ole Werner will return to the dugout after having served a red-card suspension last weekend (Photo: W.DE).

Press conference ahead of home game vs. TSG Hoffenheim

SV Werder Bremen go in search of their second straight home win as they host TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday, 16th February (15:30 CET). After a memorable 4-3 comeback win in Sinsheim earlier this season, the Green-Whites will be hoping for a less dramatic encounter this time around. Read on to find out what head coach Ole Werner had to say about...

…Jens Stage: “He’s still a doubt for this weekend. Of course it would be good for us if he’s able to feature. We’re already thinking of solutions and have other players that we trust to help us win. Leo Bittencourt and Romano Schmid will return to team training tomorrow — we wanted to manage their workloads today still, but it shouldn’t be a problem for them to return on Sunday.”

…being forced to make changes due to injuries: “We were lacking some depth last weekend, but it wasn’t a big issue for us. Every player is important, as we’ve often said, which is why I’m not feeling worried ahead of Sunday. We will prepare the lads as best as we can for the upcoming game and the changes that we’ve had to make haven’t had a negative impact on our performance.”

… Keke Topp: “He hasn’t been able to train fully with the team yet, and has only completed parts of the sessions. We can’t forget the fact that he has been sidelined for a long time. He’s making good progress and it’s important that we’ve been able to increase his workload bit by bit every week. Whenever you’ve been out for a while, it’s going to take time and so we all just need to remain patient. I hope that he’ll be an option to return to the matchday squad for our upcoming double game week.”

… André Silva: “I’m very satisfied with him — he’s settled in well, which isn’t easy when you arrive in the winter. There’s a couple of things that are different in how we play, but he’s made a good first impression and he will become an important figure for us over the coming games. We have a lot of options and various different player profiles in our squad. We have a lot of games coming up in the next weeks, and so now we’ll be able to react by introducing different types of players in attack.”

"It’s up to us to keep proving that again and again

Werder came from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in Sinsheim earlier this season (Photo: W.DE).

…opponents Hoffenheim: “There are always two sides to a coin: on the one side, a team that hasn’t enjoyed much success lately might be lacking confidence, but on the other, it might be just the thing that’s motivating them. That’s why it’s important that we manage to bring our strengths to the pitch, just like we have against Mainz. We want to dominate our opponents and play to our strengths, in order to keep all three points here.”

…coming back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in Sinsheim earlier this season: “It was memorable both in terms of how the game went and the result. I hope that we don’t see a repeat of the first half (laughs). The way in which Hoffenheim play has changed since then, however, and we’re also focused on ourselves. What we can pull from that game is that anything is possible and that it’s possible to always turn a game around, as we also proved recently in Dortmund. We won’t be doing an extra in-depth analysis on that game. It’s more for the subconscious, that the team know that they can remain focused on themselves and that anything is possible. It’s up to us to keep proving that again and again.”

…the Werder women advancing to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal: “It’s a great achievement and hopefully they will get a favourable draw. My fingers are crossed that their journey will continue. They have what it takes. Our goal is to do the same in Bielefeld. It won’t be easy, as we’ve seen in the past.”