“We know the importance of the game”

After the 5-1 success at Bochum last weekend, the Wolves host in-form 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday 30 April (kick-off 17:30 CEST) in a key clash against a fellow contender for the European places. In his pre-match press conference, VfL head coach Niko Kovac discussed…

…the importance of the fixture: “It’s certainly a very important match, as the next matches are too. We can keep ourselves in the running on Sunday, whereas a defeat would certainly make it much more difficult. So, we know the importance of the game and also the quality of the opponents.”

…team news: “We have Bartol Franjic back, and Kilian Fischer was also back in training today. The two who won’t be involved are Lukas Nmecha and Kevin Paredes – with him we’re hoping he’ll be back with the group next week.”

…the absence of Micky van de Ven due to suspension: “Micky has been brilliant this season, I have to reiterate. He’s crucial to the solidity we have at the back, but we’ll deal fine with his absence, just like we have all the other problems we’ve had over the course of the season. I’m confident that whoever deputises will do just as well as he did in the 29 games before. Once again, we have plenty of options for this position.”

…Mainz’s qualities: “Everyone at Mainz knows how important it is to step out onto the pitch as a collective. They’re a team who physically work very hard, who score a lot of goals from crosses. They get forward really quickly; they’ve changed the system slightly since the last game we played in Mainz. In [Ludovic] Ajorque they’ve acquired a striker who holds the ball up very well and brings others into play. Things are looking very good, but we have to play our football too. We want to dominate.”