Baumgart: “It will be a tight game”

“Anyone who has seen our schedule with opening fixtures against Köln, Hertha and Hannover would know the importance of getting results,” said HSV coach Steffen Baumgart at the beginning of June when the Bundesliga 2 calendar was published. The first hurdle of the tough start was successfully overcome with the 2-1 win in Cologne. The next duel now sees them face a direct opponent for Bundesliga promotion, with the home game against Hertha BSC next Saturday. “It will be a tight game”, told HSV coach Steffen Baumgart to reporters at today's press conference. The 52-year-old coach went on to speak about ...

... the team situation: Matheo Raab is on the road to recovery, and we hope that he will be back in training next week. Robert Glatzel returned to full team training today. We are glad that he is now back; however, he won't be in the squad because we want him to continue training next week. He will then be an option for the game in Meppen. Davie Selke is getting fitter and fitter, enough for him to make the starting eleven, but, at the same time, we're leaving things open depending on how much we'll change the starting line-up from the game in Cologne.

"We want to be flexible throughout the whole season"

... changes in play style: We want to be flexible in our style of play throughout the season and not just stand for one type of football. We want to react to our opponents, recognize their strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly. That's why there will always be changes and adjustments in the way we approach one game or another, as we did recently in Cologne.

... the upcoming opponents from Berlin: The start of the football season does not consist of a single game. One defeat cannot be seen as a bad start. Hertha BSC will be one of the teams vying for promotion. That's not just down to the squad, but also the coach. “Fiello” (Hertha coach Cristian Fiel) has a very clear style and knows what he wants. I’m not aware of him ever having failed to engage a team, and that's why I don’t think Hertha will be impacted by this one game. They will learn their lessons and it will be a close contest. I don't see a clear favourite. We want to win our home game and Hertha want to get their first points on the board.