Thomas Reis: We need the same mentality we had against Frankfurt

The final scoreline at Frankfurt (3-0) is still frustrating for Reis, who felt it wasn’t a fair reflection of the game. “My team played well but we still ended up with no points and conceded three times,” said the head coach. He believes his team need to be more clinical and determined in front of goal, though also had praise for the excellent Eintracht goalkeeper, Kevin Trapp.

A simple plan

The plan for the clash against Leipzig is a simple one – Reis just wants his team to score more goals and not concede any. “We can’t allow ourselves to get too nervous in front of goal. We keep working on our shooting in training. It’s important that everybody believes we can be successful”, stressed the 49-year-old. “We simply have to break our duck in front of goal. I believe that we can score twice or three times if we just get the first one.”

Reis will be demanding the same mentality the team showed in Frankfurt tomorrow. “It was good and that has to be how it is in every game. We’ll have no chance at all of getting anything against RB if we don’t have that same mentality.” The coach is banking on the vociferous support of the home fans tomorrow at the VELTINS-Arena: “We have to get the fans totally behind us by showing we’re up for it too.”

Drexler and Kaminski are available again

Reis hasn’t yet decided if he will make any changes to his team from the Frankfurt game. “We’ve still got one final training session,” he said. Dominick Drexler (Covid-19) and Marcin Kamsinki (infection) both missed the game in Frankfurt, but completed full team training on Sunday and are both options for this game after recovering from their respective illnesses.

However, matchday 17 will come too soon for Rodrigo Zalazar, although the Uruguayan isn’t far away from returning following his broken metatarsal. “He still has to work on his fitness,” reported Reis. Fellow midfielder Alex Král has been able to complete parts of training, having been suffering with persistent back problems over the last few weeks. The club will continue to monitor his progress every day. “I’m happy that the training ground is busier now and we’re gaining more quality with all these players returning,” summarised Reis.