Awkward trip to Bavaria to face bogey team Regensburg

Having said that, the Regensburg team that will most likely take to the field tomorrow lunchtime will have a different look to the side that defied expectations once again last campaign to finish in 8th position. HSV’s nemesis Adamyan upped sticks and signed for Hoffenheim over the summer, whilst his strike partner Hamadi Al Ghaddioui also departed for fellow second division side Stuttgart. Perhaps most crucially of all, manager Achim Beierlorzer was snapped up by promoted Köln, a real blow for the Jahnelf, with the 51-year-old particularly crucial in forming and sculpting Regensburg’s playing style over the previous two campaigns, as the Red and Whites established themselves in the second division, after beating 1860 Munich in a relegation playoff in May 2017.

The Rothosen (Red shorts, the same nickname as HSV) have struggled to recreate last season’s form under Beierlorzer’s successor Mersad Selimbegovic, who has been at the club since 2006, as a player for six years, and a manager of the club’s youth teams since retirement. An opening day 3-1 win over Bochum and 1-1 draw in Hannover showed signs of promise, whilst a 5-0 win on matchday 5 in Wiesbaden did much for the Bavarian’s confidence, yet the other four games of the season have yielded zero points. A 2-1 reverse last Saturday in Dresden saw Selimbegovic’s side slip to 14th on seven points, with a two-point buffer over current relegation playoff candidates Holstein Kiel.

With Jan Gyamerah, Christoph Moritz and Ewerton still sidelined for the foreseeable future, Dieter Hecking had another injury to deal with this week, with Kyriakos Papadopoulos’ calf stiffening up in training on Thursday, rendering him unavailable for the upcoming clash in Bavaria. Fortunately for Hecking, Timo Letschert has completed a full week of training with the rest of his teammates, and takes the Greek’s place in the matchday squad. Other than the one change of centre-backs, the squad is the same as the one that was named for last Sunday’s contest against Erzgebirge Aue. Debut goals from Josha Vagnoman and Martin Harnik put the Rothosen on their way to a 4-0 victory, meaning that the derby defeat just after the international break was consigned to the history books. Hamburg currently sit in second on 16 points, one point behind leaders Stuttgart and one in front of Arminia Bielefeld, with first and third meeting each other on Friday night in Bielefeld. 

Dieter Hecking on the team’s stability: “The team showed a good reaction to the defeat to St. Pauli and didn’t give Aue anything to work with, a team who had started the season well. We don’t want to overplay the importance of it, but we saw that the team coped well with the derby loss and found its feet again quickly. We’re happy the way the squad is looking at this early point in the season, considering we’re still at an early point in the process.”