Polzin: "We will need to be alert"

There was plenty to talk about as Hamburger SV head coach Merlin Polzin arrived for the pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to 1. FC Nürnberg. The team had returned from their four-day training camp in Spain on Wednesday, during which Jonas Meffert had picked up an injury to his nose. The team also trained behind closed doors today, ahead of their upcoming clash against an in-form Nürnberg side. Today, though, there weren't just journalists packed into the press conference room. Instead, they were joined by 60 children who were taking part in HSV's Girls & Boys Day. Polzin made sure to answer all of their questions, as he spoke about…

…the squad: Jonas Meffert suffered a broken nose this past week. He received the best possible treatment immediately, but we will have to see how he's doing on the weekend and what makes sense for us. The same goes for Dennis Hadzikadunic, who has been able to return to team training following his shoulder injury against Elversberg. We will have to wait and see whether the two of them are able to return. Jean-Luc Dompé, after his Achilles tendon issues, and Davie Selke, following his illness, both managed their workload a bit this week. However, we have a deep squad and will be able to react to any potential absences and will manage to put together a strong team for Saturday night. 

"It will be tough to take anything from there"

…the upcoming opponents: 1. FC Nürnberg have an interesting style of play. Their back-three turns into a back-five at times, and as a result they always manage to stretch their opponents. They have strong players in the middle of the pitch who always manage to find solutions and get the ball into good positions. FCN have a strong team and are tough to beat at home, in addition to enjoying a strong second half of the season so far. It's fun to see how they play. We will need to be alert, because Nürnberg also know how to defend, and won't allow us many chances on goal. We have trained well and are well prepared, so it will be tough to take anything from there. 

…the preparations for the game: Our time at training camp was great and we worked hard in order to make the final adjustments ahead of the remaining games this season. We also spent a lot of time together and the mood within the team is really good. This time definitely helped us to continue on the path that we're on. Additionally, we've decided to train in the stadium today and tomorrow. This decision was based entirely on the contents of our training sessions, in order to make sure that we're training under the best-possible conditions. We didn't work on any top secret things today. We might do that during our final training session tomorrow.