Christian Heidel: "Into the next two away games with confidence."

Christian Heidel on…

 … the win against Hertha BSC:
It was definitely a close game. But we knew beforehand it would not be easy. Hertha had picked up points against the top teams and we were aware of that. We beat them twice this season, even though they proved a tough nut to crack. Nevertheless we are satisfied.

… the match summary:
It was a game of two halves. We had more of the play in the first half and then they were better than us in the second half. But you could see how this team has developed because they were able to protect the result and see out the game. Hertha didn’t have a lot of clear-cut chances. There were a couple of headers that Ralf Fährmann had to deal with but not a lot more. We defended set pieces well too. I would have liked it to have been a bit less stressful, but we got there in the end and it was a tough test. It’s a third win in a row. We have 43 now, but we cannot and will not be taking our foot off the gas.

… the two upcoming away games:
We go into those games with confidence, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. It will be tough in Mainz, and Wolfsburg too. Wolfsburg have slipped slightly, and these will be too tough tasks. We are picking up points regularly at the moment and we’re heading in the same direction as the Hinrunde. Now, instead of two home games we have two games on the road. Our goal remains the same, to try and keep pace with how we played before Christmas.

… the duel with his ex-club:
It will be my fourth game against Mainz, and the second away from home. We have won all the previous encounters since I have been at Schalke. It’s not like any other journey because Mainz is my home. I obviously would love to see them stay in this league and I have a lot of love for the club. But I will keep this quiet during the game.