“We’ll go out there with an attacking mindset”

Steffen Baumgart was a busy man on Thursday morning. Folowing almost two hours of training in the rain, the 52-year-old scarcely had time to dry himself before facing the press. After apologising profusely for the slight delay to the conference caused by the extended training session, Baumgart answered the questions of the assembled journalists and spoke in detail about...

... the squad situation: Ignace Van der Brempt and Robert Glatzel are definitely out. Jean-Luc Dompe has completed his rehabilitation and took part in all of today’s drills. We’ll decide whether he’s in the squad tomorrow. We’ll also have to do without Miro Muheim because of his suspension – Noah Katterbach will replace him.

... Andras Nemeth’s role: He’ll play, 100%, and it’s not just favouritism – he put in a really good performance against Fürth. I think he’s a really good striker, who had two or three good moments against Fürth. The fact that he didn’t put those chances away is down to an outstanding goalkeeper, rather than anything he was doing wrong. The boy is great to watch, is a good finisher and I’m convinced that he’ll help us.

“It’s definitely the sort of thing that can invigorate a team, but we can’t afford to think about that.”

... 1. FC Kaiserslautern: A huge congratulations to FCK and to Friedhelm Funkel. Reaching the final of the DFB-Pokal is something special. It’s definitely the sort of thing that can invigorate a team, but we can’t afford to think about that. We’re the home team and we want to win. We’ll go out there with an attacking mindset and show aggression and intensity. We’re playing against a team that are very good in the individual battles and strong from attacking set pieces. In Ragnar Ache they also have a striker who can produce something from nothing – as long as he’s fit. Marlon Ritter is a player I’ve worked with in the past. He’s in excellent form. And Friedhelm Funkel is a wily old fox who will know exactly how to set up his team in their current situation – after reaching a final and going into an away game in Hamburg.

... bringing through academy players: Patience, training and development are crucial. 18- and 19- year olds shouldn’t be the decisive factor in how we do in the short term. We want to carry on developing the young lads the right way. Otto Stange has trained well in the last few days and could be an alternative option for the first team. We have plenty of good youth players, but we’re looking to spend a longer period of time transforming them from youth players to senior players, and from senior players to Bundesliga players. It’s a long process, and it’s better for young players to grow naturally rather than being rushed.