Hoeness: "We need to deliver"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "Ermin Bičakčić, Benjamin Hübner, Konstantinos Stafylidis and Dennis Geiger are still unavailable. Håvard Nordtveit is now fully back in training. That's promising. Sebastian Rudy had a minor knock after the Augsburg match; like Munas Dabbur, Andrej Kramarić and Sargis Adamyan, he has completed parts of team training. There are slightly bigger doubts surrounding Kevin Vogt. Mijat Gaćinović also has problems. Chris Richards has picked up a knock. We'll have to see whether he and Diadie Samassékou, who was ill, are okay for the weekend."

…the situation in the table: "It cannot continue the way it has been in the past three games. We need to deliver rather than talk. We're obviously aware of the situation and have been warned. It doesn't help to spread panic. But everyone knows what's going on at the moment. We'll show a reaction."

…this week in training: "We've rolled up our sleeves in training. Preparations were difficult for the Augsburg match. Now in training we're able to generate a degree of sharpness that is required for the Bundesliga. That makes me optimistic for Monday."

…the opposition: "We're aware of the enormous individual quality in the Leverkusen squad. They have a lot of quality on the bench too. But we want to play our game on the pitch. If we manage that, then we can beat Leverkusen."

…the change of coach in Leverkusen: "On a tactical level, they have switched to a back three under Hannes Wolf. Leverkusen want to get their defence under better control. But there's only been one match since the change of coaches. It's an exciting challenge."

…the 4-1 defeat to Leverkusen in the reverse fixture: "We've obviously analysed the reverse fixture from a tactical viewpoint. It was a very turbulent game. We'll take that into consideration in our preparations. There were things that happened that we didn't like."

The opposition's form:

Bayer 04 Leverkusen parted with head coach Peter Bosz a little over two weeks ago, following a run of poor results. Hannes Wolf succeeded him in the role and steered his side to a 2-1 victory over FC Schalke 04 in his first game in charge. Leverkusen currently occupy sixth spot with 43 points from 27 matches.

Head-to-head record:

Leverkusen were Hoffenheim's bogey team for many years. But the trend has changed recently, with TSG winning five of their last 10 meetings (three draws and two defeats). That said, the Werkself won the reverse fixture 4-1.

Match facts and statistics »