Hoeness:"We want to perform differently"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "We still have some long-term injury absentees who will not be available. There is still a question mark surrounding the players who are returning from international duty. Munas Dabbur needs to be tested in time. Sargis Adamyan (thigh) and Andrej Kramarić (ankle) have a few problems. Kevin Vogt and Marco John are still carrying injuries from the Mainz match, so we need to wait and see how training goes. In addition, Ishak Belfodil has some back problems. Kevin Akpoguma has played two games for the U23s. He was injured for three months but is making a good impression and is an alternative for the squad. Mijat Gaćinović could return too."

…the international call-ups: "I don't want to say it's distorting the competition, but it's definitely not an advantage. There are now one or two question marks over several players. We have only trained with a very small group. But we cannot change that and need to deal with it as well as we possibly can."

…FC Augsburg: "They have already beaten one or two teams who are above them in the table. They have picked up their points by defending deep and then hitting on the counter-attack. That makes it all the more important to take the lead. We need to find a way to do that again. Augsburg's strengths come to the fore when they are allowed to defend deep. We'll need to have some ideas about how to get in behind them."

…the season objectives: "We want to keep picking up as many points as possible. The last two games obviously haven't helped us. There are still eight games to go. Our aim is to get points as soon as possible so that we don't have to look over our shoulder in the table anymore. A win against Augburg will obviously help with that. We want to end the season worry-free and as well as possible."

…the match against Mainz: "It was a bad performance from us. We took time that day to talk about it. The lads who have been here have pulled together well in training. We want to perform differently on Saturday."

The opposition's form:

FC Augsburg have consistently alternated between good results and setbacks this season. For example, Heiko Herrlich's charges recently beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 before then losing 2-0 to SC Freiburg a week later. FCA currently occupy 13th place in the table with 29 points.

Head-to-head record:

TSG have won on each of their last five visits to FC Augsburg. In total, Hoffenheim have claimed more Bundesliga victories over FCA (11) than they have against any other club currently in the division.

Match facts and statistics »