Starke: “We need the support of everyone”

Tom, how disappointing was the defeat to Dortmund last week?

To be honest it was easier to put behind us than other defeats where we've lost narrowly. Dortmund were better than us on the day, that's simply the way it was. The good thing about football is that there's always another game next week where you can make up for a below-par performance.

In your last game against the Champions, the team played vey well. Why didn't that work this time?

We gave Dortmund a lot of help; they scored all their goals through individual mistakes from us. Top teams punish you when they get chances like that. But it was important for us to show a reaction in the second half and didn't let ourselves take a hammering.

Recently it seems like there has been some disquiet at the club. Can you understand why that has been reported in sections of the media, and why some fans might have got that feeling?

People are allowed to have their own concerns about the club. That shows they have a sense of belonging and they care, and that the club has developed in its short Bundesliga history. The manager touched on that last week in his pre-match press conference. His point was that things aren't black and white in this league. If you win you get praised to the heavens, but if you lose a couple of games, you're written off as being already relegated. Our being top at Christmas is a long time ago. Now we have to take a different path, and try to achieve success through our performances but also through economic consolidation. It doesn't happen overnight, and people need to have more patience. For most of our fans that isn't the case though. They support us even when things aren't going well.

Srdjan Lakic has recently joined the club on loan from Wolfsburg. How has he settled in and what are the squad's first impressions of him?

Very positive. He can be a real addition to our team. He's quick and good in the air, and never gives defenders an easy time. We can definitely profit from that. You also notice that he really wants to take his chance and get back playing as soon as possible.

The next four days include games against Augsburg in the league and then Greuther Fürth in the Cup. Just how important are those two games to the club?

We're in the top half of the table, and are playing the team who is second from bottom. So we want to be looking up the league, and that means winning. That's all there is to say really. The same goes for the cup game. We'll be going into it as favourites and we want to take this club to the semi-final for the first time in its history. A lot has been spoken about in the last few weeks, but now everyone, the fans, the players and the club itself, is clear about what we have to achieve. All that matters is that the club is successful, and for that we need the support of everyone.