“Be on the alert from the off”

VfB head coach Sebastian Hoeneß will again be without goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow for Monday night’s play-off return leg in Hamburg. “Fabi won’t be able to play. It’s the same as in the first leg, everyone else is fit,” confirmed Hoeneß, who is not relaxing despite the 3-0 win at home on Thursday. “None of the pressure has dropped. These things aren’t decided after one half. We’ve reached an intermediate target and put ourselves in a good position. Now we need to do the second part.“

As with the first leg, the VfB boss is calling on his players to be wide awake from the start. “We have to be extremely concentrated, focused and mentally switched on. We expect HSV to throw everything at us at home,” said Hoeneß, who knows the atmosphere at the Volksparkstadion. “The atmosphere at the Volkspark is certainly not second-division level. It’s going to be fiery, it’s going to be loud, and that’s exactly what we have to be prepared for. We’re familiar with crowds like that from our own Arena.”

Even though everything’s pointing to survival for VfB after the first leg, Hoeneß is wary of the hosts. “I saw phases on Thursday in which we controlled the game, but I also saw phases in which HSV caused us problems, when we weren’t at our best in terms of our pressing. It would be fatal to assume that the second leg will go similarly to the first. It’ll be a different challenge. The early goal at home also helped us. It’s extremely important to be highly focused and on the alert from the off.”