Season

With Heyer and Reis: Focus on Nürnberg

After the derby win in Bremen, the Rothosen are meticulously preparing for the next point game against 1. FC Nürnberg. Tim Walter: "They are still unbeaten and we are setting out to break their streak again."

"You're only as good as your last game" - that's a truism in professional sport that reflects the line of approach for the current week for the Rothosen, which culminates on Sunday with the points match against 1. FC Nürnberg. Head coach Tim Walter already put the brakes on the euphoria after the highly emotional 2:0 derby win at SV Werder Bremen in the catacombs of the Weserstadion. "We haven't performed so well yet that we could take tomorrow off. Of course we are happy about this victory, but we can still do a few things better and we have to make the most of every day," explained the 45-year-old football coach during the press conference when asked by a reporter whether the team could expect an extra day off as a result of the derby victory.

Keeping a close eye on his personnel options around centre-back Mario Vuskovic (pictured right) this week: HSV coach Tim Walter.

Many options - who will replace Schonlau?

After the regeneration and substitute training on Sunday, Walter only allowed his charges the usual breather on Monday, scheduled the first training session of the week yesterday afternoon and promptly a double session again today, Wednesday. After all, Hamburger SV will be hosting 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday, the only team in the second division without a defeat. In the possible overtaking match against the 4th-placed Franconians (13 points), the sixth-placed Reds (12 points) will have to do without their captain Sebastian Schonlau (yellow-red suspension) for the first time. Walter should have been all the more pleased that Moritz Heyer - one of the derby heroes with a goal and an assist and Hamburg's top scorer with four goals - who was slightly injured at the end of the Werder game, was able to return to full training yesterday. Midfielder Ludovit Reis, who was still being individually controlled yesterday, then returned to training this morning, when the focus was mainly on scoring goals after solid moves. The long-term injured Stephan Ambrosius (rehab after cruciate ligament rupture), Tom Mickel (shoulder surgery), Maximilian Rohr (thigh injury) and Josha Vagnoman (muscle tendon tear in the thigh) as well as Mikkel Kaufmann (gastrointestinal infection) could not participate.

Tim Walter, meanwhile, did not reveal any details about the personnel changes at centre-back. "Everything is open. We have to see how this training week goes. There are several possibilities to replace Bascho. Heyer, Vuskovic and also Gyamerah can play in central defence. In addition, there is also the possibility of systematically rebuilding and playing with three centre-backs at the back," explained the Bruchsal native, who is in the process of dissecting Nuremberg's game together with his coaching team and match analysis. "The team is still unbeaten and has developed. Robert Klauß is a coach from the RB school and accordingly his team acts extremely against the ball. That's what we're preparing for." In the past 17 second division games, the FCN lost only once: on the 32nd matchday of the pre-season when the team visited the Volksparkstadion with a score of 2:5. "Then let's set out to break this streak again," explains Walter, his eyes fully focused on the future. "The derby win is water under the bridge. Now the focus is on the new game."