Breitenreiter: "Keep going and show our qualities"

André Breitenreiter on…

…the opposition: "Augsburg will come to us with a new coach and have shown that they can win away from home. We have worked very hard in training and have prepared well. The opponent likes to switch the play quickly and go hard into the challenges. It's important that we build on our away win and show our qualities. That's our goal and we want to make it happen."

…his approach to team selection: "Honestly speaking, wins play a secondary role when it comes to selecting the team. That would be predictable. I always reward performances in training if players make a case for themselves. Nobody can sit back after a good performance in the previous weekend's match. Furthermore, the line-up naturally also depends on the opposition. That said, it can of course be that the starting XI stays the same if we believe that those exact players will be effective."

…his senior players: "We want to get into a flow and allow that to build. Our senior players help too, whether it's the captains or players like Grischa Prömel, Kevin Vogt and Christoph Baumgartner, who speak up and keep the excitement high. It's important such things don't always come from the coach, but from within the team too."

…the current phase of development: "I can't give a name to the current phase. This is a process and we've quickly gelled with each other, the players can be assured that our instructions will be implemented. Even though we won convincingly in Leverkusen, not all processes can be at 100% yet. There are certain things that we can still improve considerably. We have to work diligently to that end; we want to continue to develop and improve."

…his personal development: "Every coach should always be open to new things, you're never perfect. In view of that, I hope I continue to develop here. Here we have excellent conditions which I didn't have at my previous clubs. But dealing with a team is always the same for me. There are many individual players: one needs to be poked more, another needs to be stroked more, and another needs to be given space. It's the same everywhere, and you have to pay attention to that as a coach."

…the injury to Ihlas Bebou: "Ihlas has attempted to train over the past few days but it did not work out. We need to operate on the assumption that he will be out for several months. The way it looks, we will be without him for the long term. That of course makes us sad, he had been factored in as a starter."

The personnel situation:

Philipp Pentke (elbow operation), Benjamin Hübner (ankle injury), Ihlas Bebou (knee problems), Stanley Nsoki (fitness training) and Ermin Bičakčić (fitness training) will not be available for the match against FC Augsburg.

The opposition's form:

FC Augsburg have started the new season with one victory and two defeats. Both reverses came on home turf, where the Bavarians lost 4-0 to SC Freiburg and 2-1 to 1. FSV Mainz 05, but Enrico Maassen's team claimed a 2-1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen. As a result, the men from the Fuggerstadt sit in 10th place.

Head-to-head record:

TSG Hoffenheim and FC Augsburg have locked horns on 34 previous occasions, 22 of which have been in the Bundesliga. TSG have the far superior record in the German top flight, with 13 wins compared to five defeats. Augsburg have won only one of their 11 Bundesliga trips to Sinsheim.

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