David Wagner: Keep a clean sheet and get three points

„For us it’s about trying to keep a clean sheet and getting the three points,“ said head coach David Wagner. „In order to do tat we have to put in a good performance for the whole 90 minutes, defend as best we can and then take our chances at the other end.“ That didn’t happen when the team played Fortuna Düsseldorf in mid-week, where they lost 2-1. „We defended poorly twice and we conceded twice,“ said Wagner on the poor coals they conceded in Düsseldorf. „And in doing so we took ourselves out of the game.“ Apart from those two goals, the team defended well all in all, according to Wagner, but at the same time they didn’t take their chances going forward. „We had so many chances in the game, the best of which went to Daniel Caligiuri and Jonjoe Kenny,“ said the 48-year-old.

The coach didn’t want to criticise individual performances because „we function as a group.“ Fact is though, the team have to minimise these individual mistakes as quickly as possible. Wagner kept his cards close to his chest when talking about any possible changes for the game in Bremen: „I don’t want to talk tactics before the game,“ said the Royal-Blues coach.

Raman back and ready to go

In terms of a squad, Wagner has everyone at his disposal that he had against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Benito Raman is also back in contention after recovering from a thigh problem. Omar Mascarell and Benjamin Stambouli (both in recovery training), Amine Harit (ligament problem) as well as Suat Serdar (partial tear in left knee ligaments) won’t be available for the game. The starting XI isn’t confirmed yet. „With playing three games in six days comes a bit of fatigue so we’ll have to see who’s fresh,“ explained Wagner. Personnel changes are therefore very possible.