Looking to bounce back against underestimated Aue

FC Erzgebirge Aue e.V., based in the small town of Aue-Bad Schlema deep in the Erzgebirge mountains, has always been a club that has punched above its weight. Perched right next to the border to the Czech Republic, around 100km south-east of Leipzig, the town of 20,000 inhabitants has a sporting pedigree going back to the time when the club was known as BSG Wismut Aue, playing in the ‘Oberliga DDR’, the highest division of football in the former East Germany. After the reunification of Germany in 1990, Wismut became Erzgebirge, still enjoying the support of the fans from the surrounding area, an area blessed with natural resources which still sees mining as one of its biggest employers. Thus, the ‘Macht aus dem Schacht’ as they proudly call themselves (the Force from the Mining Shaft doesn’t sound quite as catchy in English), have developed a reputation as an incredibly hard-working team to match the steeliness of the fans they represent. 

The Violets have been in the second division for the majority of the past decade, with one season in the third tier in 2015/16 resulting in automatic promotion as runners-up. The team from Saxony have been able to establish themselves since then, securing survival in the 2017/18 season via a relegation play-off against Karlsruher SC, with current HSV under-21 boss Hannes Drews guiding the Violets to safety. Daniel Meyer took over from Drews, and secured a 14th-placed finish last time out and six points from the first three games of this campaign, before being parting ways with the club. Former Darmstadt and Augsburg manager Dirk Schuster took over the reins, securing a goalless draw against Stuttgart, 1-1 draw away in Kiel as well as his first win at the helm last time out against Osnabrück, meaning that Aue sit two points behind HSV in fifth position in the table.

Dieter Hecking on what to expect from Aue: “I’m expecting an Aue team who will work hard for each other but will look to play football. They’re not just very compact without the ball but have some very good individual players. Once again: we’re not talking of the Erzgebirge of four, five years ago who were struggling against relegation but a club that has developed and will be a strong opponent come Sunday. We cannot think that we can win a game in the second division before a whistle is blown. And especially not against a strong team like Aue.”

After the sad news of Jan Gyamerah’s broken fibula last week, there was some positive news for the HSV squad this week, with Timo Letschert back in full training with the rest of the squad after his prolonged rehabilitation break. However, Dieter Hecking stated in his press conference on Friday it was unlikely that the Dutchman would make the bench on Sunday. Meanwhile goalkeeper Julian Pollersbeck will play for the under-21 side on Sunday against Eintracht Norderstedt in the Regionalliga in order to gain some match practice and due to two of the under-21 goalkeepers having been added to the injury list themselves in the past few weeks. 

Thus with Letschert not yet fit and Gyamerah and Christoph Moritz still sidelined, the squad for Sunday’s game is likely to look very similar to that which faced St. Pauli. A positive start to the season saw four wins in a row for the Rothosen, before succumbing to their first loss of the season last time out against St. Pauli. Dimitrios Diamantakos put the home side ahead after a sloppy first half an hour from Dieter Hecking’s men, with a lack of potency in front of goal meaning Rick van Drongelen’s second-half own goal sealed the first setback of the new campaign. Van Drongelen and the rest of the team will be looking to get back to winning ways on Sunday, building on their current haul of 13 points and starting another strong run of form.