Simon Terodde: Position in the table only matters at the end of the season

“Having 10,000 fans at the game against Paderborn was already very helpful to us. Every extra fan gives us the strength we need to win against Hansa Rostock,” said Terodde, who recently turned 34 on Wednesday (2/3). Effective immediately, the Royal Blues will be able to welcome 41,055 fans to home games at the VELTINS-Arena. “Everyone loves to play in front of a full house,” said Terodde, who is hoping to see as many fans as possible at the game. “We are really looking forward to the game.”

Terodde scored his 16th goal of the season during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Karlsruher SC, with only St. Pauli’s Guido Burgstaller ahead of him in the scoring charts (17 goals). The former Schalke striker has scored three of his goals from the spot, while Terodde is yet to take a penalty for S04 this season. “I felt that we should have been awarded two penalties against Paderborn,” he said. “It’s interesting that I’ve scored 16 goals but haven’t taken a single penalty yet.”

Benefitting from squad depth in the closing stages of the season

This weekend, Schalke have one goal in mind: taking all three points off Hansa Rostock. Terodde listed the depth of the squad as a benefit as the end of the season approaches. “Our strength is that we aren’t dependent on individual players,” he said, in reference to the end of the first half of the season when he missed four games due to injury. His teammates were able to successfully deputise in his absence. “The coach always has the option of making changes,” Terodde said. “There are definitely things that we can still stand to improve on. For example, in our last few games, we should have done a better job of keeping possession in order to be able to really build up play.”

With 10 matchdays left to play, the Royal Blues are currently three points behind the promotion places. “We dropped two points in Karlsruhe,” Terodde said, visibly frustrated at his side’s inability to score the winning goal that day. Now, his focus is on the upcoming game against Rostock, which will set an important tone for the closing stages of the season. “We need to make sure that we continue to win our home games. If we manage that, then by the end of the season when we will hopefully be playing in front of 60,000 fans, we will have a chance to really make a final push,” he said. “It doesn’t matter right now if we’re first or second – what matters is that we’re in one of those spots at the end of the season.”