Season

Intensity and passion on show at the Volkspark

An away match at Karlsruher SC awaits HSV on Sunday. Captain Schonlau & co. are working hard in preparation for the clash with the side currently second in the table. Small-sided games make up part of Thursday’s training agenda.

While the Volksparkstadion is readied for the Thursday night Europa League fixture between Dynamo Kyiv and Viktoria Plzen, preparations are in full swing for the away trip on matchday 14. At 11:00 CET, the HSV players arrived at the training ground next to the stadium for a two-hour session led by Merlin Polzin in a bitterly cold Hamburg. On the schedule were small-sided games designed with Sunday’s encounter with Karlsruher SC in mind.

Immanuel Pherai (pictured) returned to complete the majority of the session after picking up a knock in training yesterday, meaning he had to end his day’s work early. This time around, it was Davie Selke who was absent due to illness. Polzin will provide an update on the squad available for the weekend’s match during his press conference at 14:00 CET tomorrow (Friday).

There are three days and two training sessions, on Friday and Saturday, to go before the KSC game, which will serve as Polzin’s second match as interim coach. The first came back in February of this year, when HSV drew 2-2 away to Hansa Rostock, missing out on all three points due to a late equalising goal. The hope is that Polzin can secure a win at the second time of asking, even if the difficulty of the upcoming challenge is clear – it would be the first away victory in Karlsruhe for almost exactly four years.