Strength in depth key as Aue await

Focus on the hosts

Erzgebirge Aue are in their fifth successive season in the 2. Bundesliga, and have been in the second tier for the majority of the 21st Century. Hailing from the Ore mountain range near the Czech border in former East Germany, the club are known for its iron spirit on and off the pitch, reflecting the hard-working and unbreakable attitude of the current and former miners in the town. Last season’s seventh-placed finish was their highest in a decade, and ‘Die Macht aus dem Schacht’ are in a similar position heading into Friday’s game in 8th place on 28 points, eight points away from third position but also ten points safe of the relegation play-off place. As has been the way in recent seasons, the Violets’ points total has been based off solid home form, lacking the vocal and passionate home support like all teams this season, but the Erzgebirgsstadion is certainly one of the most feared grounds in the division as an away side. Aue have only lost twice there this season, and beat HSV convincingly on their last trip to Saxony in February last year.

Wood the next casualty for injury-hit HSV

After a generally injury-free January, the pile-up of fixtures has seen the Rothosen suffer a number of injuries to key players in the past week and a half. Josha Vagnoman (ankle) and Toni Leistner (thigh) have both been added to the treatment table and will be missing for several weeks, joined by Bobby Wood who injured his knee in training on Wednesday and won’t travel to Aue. Klaus Gjasula (knee) and Rick van Drongelen (ACL) are still missing, the Dutchman able to take part in large swathes of training but the medical staff wanting to be cautious after coming back from such a serious injury. 

The positive news for the Rothosen is their unbeaten run stretched to nine games with the convincing 3-1 victory against Paderborn on Saturday at the Volksparkstadion, and coupled with Bochum’s loss to Karlsruhe a day later, means Hamburg have opened up a four-point gap on second place, with 40 points to 36 after 19 games. It is naturally no time to let up, Thioune aware of the challenge that awaits in Saxony. “Especially with the wintry conditions it’s unlikely the surface will be good for playing passing football on,” the 45-year-old explained at Wednesday’s pre-match press conference. “But that’s not excuse for us, there are other ways of scoring goals, and we have to match our hosts’ intensity.”