Ilzer: "We have to have confidence in ourselves"

Christian Ilzer on…

…the match on Sunday: "We have options to play a good game. We just mustn't make the mistake of sitting deep. We have to be more efficient with our finishing to come away with something. We have to have confidence in ourselves."

…Borussia Dortmund: "They currently have personnel problems in central defence, but when I take a look at the squad, there are definitely players who can play there. We will now analyse the situation more intensively and come up with our match plan. In the morning, it was important for me to analyse yesterday's match against FCSB."

…his second game against Dortmund this season: "We were there with Sturm Graz in the Champions League at the start of November, we played a good game despite the defeat (editor's note: 1-0). Now we want to do everything we can with TSG to come away with something."

…the praise from Nuri Sahin after the match for his philosophy: "At the time, Sturm Graz was a project that had been running for more than four years, we were very well versed and every cog worked perfectly together. We first have to develop that here. We're going to consistently pursue our approach with TSG, we have good basic foundations in place. Now it's a case of developing further step by step. But we only have few training sessions. I've jokingly said that I've had more press conferences than training sessions so far."

…the atmosphere in the squad: "My start has been difficult from a results perspective, but my start with the team hasn't been. They're completely on track, now they simply need to get their reward. It is important that we now pursue our approach consistently and make adjustments to the important points. Nobody is satisfied with the sporting situation; my job is to work in a solution-oriented way."

…the situation in the table: "We have to focus on our performances. Then I'm convinced that after 34 matchdays we'll finish in a position in the table that we deserve and we won't be relegated. Now it's more important for me to focus on the game on Sunday and not look at the teams around us in the table."

The personnel situation:

There is no news to report on the long-term injury absentees. Florian Grillitsch is set to return to team training next week. All the players from the match against FCSB on Thursday (0-0) will probably be available for selection.

The opposition's form:

The current preference would have probably been to host BVB at the PreZero Arena: Dortmund currently occupy top spot in the Bundesliga home table and have taken 19 out of a possible 21 points at home (only a draw against FC Bayern). But it has been a different story away for Nuri Sahin's team, who have taken only two points from six games. But BVB also suffered their first competitive defeat of the season on home turf on Wednesday, when they lost (3-2) to Barcelona in the Champions League.

Head-to-head record:

BVB have won 14 of their 32 Bundesliga meetings, while TSG have been victorious on eight occasions. Hoffenheim won the last match in February 2024. Maximilian Beier bagged a brace for TSG in that 3-2 away victory but has since completed a move to Dortmund.

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