Pre-Match

The best till last

The seventh week of 2019 began perfect for HSV with a home win – now it should end with a win in Heidenheim on Saturday.

As the HSV team bus left the Volksparkstadion on Friday at 13:40 and headed towards to the airport, it was a final point of the HSV week, which began with a 1-0 home win over Dynamo Dresden – just how a week should begin.

The coaching team at HSV have won ten out of their 13 games in charge so far. The mascot Hermann cannot hide his joy!

On Tuesday the club announced the signing of Ware Pakia, a German youth international player from Borussia Dortmund, who will join Die Rothosen in the summer. Wednesday saw assistant coaches Maik Goebbels and Andre Kilian extend their contracts. The two are part of the successful coaching team who have overseen ten wins from 13 games so far, losing only twice and drawing once. On Thursday the first professional signing for next season was confirmed: full-back Jan Gyamerah from VfL Bochum.

By the time the players got on the team bus on Friday, the club had already had had a busy week. Nevertheless, van Drongelen &. Co are not focusing on the week’s events, but instead the game on Saturday. 1. FC Heidenheim are far from being a typical name in the 2. Bundesliga, as they are currently fighting hard for promotion to the Bundesliga. They are fourth in the table and have been the best team in the league since the winter break. “Heidenheim are playing a very good standard of football and didn’t put Leverkusen out of the DFB-Pokal by coincidence,” explained Hannes Wolf. The club are wary ahead of the clash: “We have to perform at our highest level and put our best game in, if we want to take something from the match,” he said.

Hee-chan Hwang returned to full-team training this week and is raring to go ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

Go Sakai, captain Aaron hunt and left-back Douglas Santos are all unavailable to play in Heidenheim due to injury. Hee-chan Hwang has recovered surprisingly quickly, and the South Korean international will therefore be included in the squad. “Chan is a good option for us to have,” said the coach on the returning player. “He cannot play all 90 minutes yet, but could start or come off the bench. He will give us a better chance of taking something from the game.”

Pierre-Michel Lasogga, who put in a good performance after his return from injury, is ready for action, especially as HSV are set to face a crucial opponent. In the reverse fixture, Lasogga scored a hat-trick as a substitute. HSV’s top scorer probably won’t finish the match with another three goals to his name but will hope that the team leaves with three point to theirs. It would undoubtedly be the perfect end to an eventful week at HSV.

The HSV squad: Goalkeepers: Pollersbeck, Mickel; Outfield: Arp, Bates, Holtby, Hwang, Ito, Janjicic, Jatta, Jung, Lacroix, Lasogga, Mangala, Narey, Özcan, Vagnoman, van Drongelen, Wintzheimer.

Predicted line-up for FC Heidenheim: Müller-Busch, Beermann, Mainka, Theuerkauf – Dorch, Griesbeck, Andrich – Dovedan – Glatzel, Thomalla

Referee: Guido Winkmann