Ilzer: "We have good spirit in the team"

Christian Ilzer on…

…his expectations for the game: "I'm expecting to go up against an opponent who are in full flow and seem to have found their feet. We've worked on the details, we want to play our football at a very good level. If it ends up being a spectacular game which goes in our favour, I would obviously have nothing against that." 

…the final game of the year: "It would be valuable to end the year with a good performance. We had a really good game in Dortmund and want to get another good result against Gladbach." 

…the week of training: "You first have to give the lads a bit of time to cool off and focus on regeneration. After that our focus was on keeping up the momentum throughout the week of training." 

…his first few weeks: "I feel good here at the club and in my day-to-day work with the team. The most important thing is that we've taken steps forward, even though not all the results have gone the way we would have hoped. We've developed our parameters for progress and have a good team spirit." 

…the Christmas spirit: "I'm not really feeling any pre-Christmas excitement yet. The current workload is too intense for that, and it's also important that we focus on the games. If we are successful in the game, then we can get into the spirit. I'll be travelling to Austria over the Christmas holidays and celebrating with my family."

...Andrej Kramarić: "I see him as a very important part of the group. I have a very positive dialogue with him. He's finding his place in the structure better and better. The aim is to put him in a position to showcase his qualities in the best possible way. His performance in training is very good."

... the winter schedule: "After the game on Saturday, we're on holiday, but the lads have a home programme so that they're well prepared for the resumption of training on 2 January. Then we'll start preparing for the game against Wolfsburg. We will have a friendly fixture against FC Augsburg. Those are the key dates for the very short winter break."

... possible transfers in the winter: "We have no plans to make any major personnel changes. We have a few injured players who will return at some point in January. It's important to fully utilise our own potential. But we've made no secret of the fact that our goal is to sign a striker." 

... the personnel situation: "Max Moerstedt suffered an ankle injury in training during the week and is out for the match against Mönchengladbach, but could be available again for the start of training in January. Everything is going according to plan with Grischa Prömel, but he is not expected to return in the spring. With Ozan Kabak, everything is going well and we hope that he will rejoin the team in the spring. But we'll give him time to regain full confidence in his knee."

The opposition's form:

Borussia Mönchengladbach are in 11th place with 21 points, the packed mid-table means just three points separate them from SC Freiburg in fifth place. Their most recent matches resulted in a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund and a 4-1 win over Holstein Kiel.

Head-to-head record:

TSG Hoffenheim could equalise the historic match-up with a win. So far in the Bundesliga, Gladbach have won 11, Hoffenheim have won ten, and 11 have ended with the spoils shared. 

Match facts and statistics »