Kees van Wonderen: We want to lay down a marker with good performances

SCP are just one point from the promotion play-off spot and four points off second place. Head coach Lukas Kwasniok’s side have struggled for consistency recently, having played out a mixed run of results. Ater three successive defeats to 1. FC Köln (2-1), Eintracht Braunschweig (3-2) and Fortuna Düsseldorf (2-1), Paderborn won 3-2 at 1. FC Nürnberg two weeks ago, before drawing 1-1 at home to SV Elversberg last time out. The latter game left both sides on the same number of points after 31 matches.

“Paderborn are the team with the highest intensity. They cover more kilometres than anyone else in the league, complete by far the most intensive runs and put the most crosses in of any team,” said Schalke head coach Kees van Wonderen ahead of the game. “They’re battling hard for third place and have a lot of quality. They’re always looking to play out from the back, but they also sometimes hit balls in behind the opponents’ defence.” Midfielder Santiago Castaneda and striker Ilyas Ansah are both available again for Paderborn after suspension.

Van Wonderen and his players do of course have happy memories of the reverse fixture in Paderborn, when the Royal Blues beat the league’s then-leaders 4-2. “We’ve already shown multiple times this season that we can beat any opponent if we play with energy and all fight for each other on the pitch. We didn’t just show that against Paderborn, but also the likes of HSV, Elversberg and Düsseldorf,” added the 56-year-old. “Now, we’ve got another home game at our own stadium with the fans behind us. We want to play with energy and fight for the shirt.”

The Dutchman doesn’t believe that S04 will take their foot off the gas as the season draws to a close. “Every day, I see players who give everything and want to do all the right things, even if they don’t always work.” Instead, van Wonderen thinks Schalke will have a real incentive. “We still have to play three matches against teams who are challenging for promotion, so we can have a say in how the race plays out. We’re playing for ourselves and for our fans though. We want to lay down a marker with good performances.” The Royal Blues have won three of their last five home games, and earned a point with ten men against then-leaders Hamburger SV in their last match at the VELTINS-Arena.

Karaman and Murkin suspended

The S04 coach will be missing his captain for one more game. Kenan Karaman will serve the final match of his suspension after picking up a red card in the 2-2 draw with Hamburger SV. He will be able to make his return in the visit to Fortuna Düsseldorf. The same goes for left-back Derry John Murkin, who was shown his fifth yellow card of the season in the 2-1 defeat to 1. FC Kaiserslautern, meaning he will have to sit out this match. Aymen Barkok will not be in the squad for disciplinary reasons.