Improving our home record to end the year!

“It’s a special feeling when the fans go crazy”

The 29 year-old midfielder has made 59 home appearances for HSV in the Volksparkstadion and knows the strength of the 12th man in securing points. “When you play at home and have thousands of fans cheering you on, of course it gives you an advantage.” Personally, Holtby understands this home advantage and the statistics prove this with the home team winning 63% of matches this year. The midfielder has also scored five of his eight goals in 2018 at home. “It is simply amazing to play in the Volksparkstadion. It’s a very special feeling whenever Scooter is played and the fans go crazy. I would like to experience this again, but on this occasion alongside securing a victory,” explained Holtby who scored last time out at home to give HSV a 2-1 lead against 1. FC Union Berlin. Unfortunately, HSV conceded late on but still secured a 2-2 draw.

“Joy and sorrow go hand in hand in football. There are small things that make a difference,” said the Rothosen vice captain regarding the last gasp equaliser against Union. HSV need to concentrate for the full 90 minutes against Paderborn to secure victory. “We want to use the crowd in our final home match of the year and give everything we have. We require a top performance against Paderborn,” acknowledges HSV coach Hannes Wolf in his pre-match press conference. The 37 year-old coach, who have won five of his opening six matches in charge and remains unbeaten, has a few players unavailable for Friday’s match including Pierre-Michel Lasogga (calf muscle strain), Gideon Jung, Kyriakos Papadopoulos (both returning to full fitness after cartilage damage) and Jairo Samperio (rehabilitation following a cruciate ligament rupture). Julian Pollersbeck returned to training this morning after missing yesterday as a precaution for a back problem.