Kramarić: ”A win would be a huge step”

Andrej, things have been going well recently and the team has managed to dig its way out of the bottom-reaches of the table. What do you think the reasons for that are?

”We’ve gone unbeaten in our last four games and picked up ten points. We gained particularly important points in the games against direct relegation rivals. Getting a draw in Munich felt fantastic too. In the phase when things weren’t going so smoothly, we were still training well, but we weren’t able to convert that into points often enough. Sometimes you just need a certain slice of luck, and that wasn’t happening for us before. Now we’re on the right track.”

Is it your goal to secure survival as soon as possible?

”The goal is to stay in the Bundesliga. It doesn’t matter when we achieve it. If we keep playing like we have been in the last few weeks, and keep picking up points, then I’m confident we’ll secure our place in the league. We had a very challenging phase in the season, so we shouldn’t get overconfident.”

You host 1. FC Köln on Saturday. What kind of game are you expecting?

“It will be another very interesting game. For us it’s quite simple: we want to win and overtake Köln in the table. Then we wouldn’t be safe just yet, but things would look far more favourable. A win would be a huge step towards our goals. Although it won’t be easy, I’m confident because we’re playing at home and have been in good form lately.”

The team have fond memories of playing against Köln, you in particular…

“Of course you see the statistics, but they don’t make a difference on the pitch. For us, it’s all about an important three points. We play the same way in every game. But one thing is true: we’ve done well against them in recent times. We want to build on that on Saturday.”