"It is our task to redeem ourselves".

It was not an easy week for Tim Walter and his team. The derby defeat was lingering, but the coach and his players had used the days to turn the existing frustration into energy. "We worked a lot, focused on the new task and the players trained with extremely great passion," said Walter on Friday (20 August) in the press conference before the matchday 4 home game against SV Darmstadt 98. The coach spoke about the guests, who after a difficult start to the season had landed a classic liberation blow last matchday with a 6:1 victory over FC Ingolstadt, as well as about his own approach to this game. 

In addition, the HSV coach spoke about...

... the mood: "Of course it is our task to redeem ourselves for the derby defeat, even if that will only really be possible in the second leg. But at least we want to give our fans a win against Darmstadt. To do that, we worked hard this week, focused on the new task and the players trained with extreme passion. Everyone is pulling together, everyone is doing well. The team is implementing our principles well, and we are basically satisfied with that. But what makes us stand out is that we want more. Because more is always possible.

„"We have to be wide awake at all times, especially when playing against the ball.“ 

... the personnel situation: Our long-term absences are known, but beyond that, all men are on board. Marko Johansson is also fully participating and doing very well, as are the other goalkeepers. Since I haven't talked to them yet about who will be in the squad for Sunday's game, I don't want to reveal it at this point. 

... The Visitors:  Darmstadt had a lot of absences at the beginning of the season due to Corona, but they are coming back bit by bit. Most recently against Ingolstadt, Darmstadt showed their true capabilities, so we know that it will be a tough task - like all games in this very tight league. Darmstadt come with power, a lot of physicality, great presence and will be looking for chances in a fast switching game. For us, that means we have to be wide awake at all times, especially when playing against the ball, and we have to defend our goal passionately. That is the basis for a successful game.

You can see the complete press conference (Only in German) here in the video or as a re-live on You Tube.