Mark Uth: We played good football as a team

At around the 28 minute mark of the match, Schalke launched a swift attacking move. Jonjoe Kenny crossed the ball into the middle, but Paderborn defender Uwe Hünemeier blocked it so the ball instead fell into the path of Daniel Caligiuri. Hünemeier was again on hand to deflect Caligiuri’s effort, but only to Mark Uth, whose own shot was blocked by the foot of Paderborn goalkeeper Jannik Huth. “Of course, I haven’t quite gotten back into the swing of things yet,” Uth explains, reflecting on his 67 minutes of action on his return. Nevertheless, he is still completely satisfied with the progress he has made. “We played good football as a team. If we continue to play like that, then I will get my chances to score goals,” Schalke’s number seven is certain.

An optimistic look ahead

Uth is happy that he can again do his bit for the success of the team, and also that he feels good being back on the pitch. “My groin is fine, which is the most important thing after starting a competitive game for the first time in five months,“ Uth emphasised, after a very mixed preseason. “I want to be the striker I was at Hoffenheim,” said the forward who was not satisfied with his goal-scoring form last season, netting only four times in 29 competitive games.

The 28-year old has been impressed with the team’s efforts in the first matches of the season. The fact that at last the coaching team had almost the full squad available was very beneficial. “The level of training is even higher due to the high number of returning players. That’s important, because we play football better together,” explains Uth, who is already looking forward to the game against Mainz on Friday (20/9/19, 20:30 CEST). “Our goal now is to beat Mainz in front of our fans and then we’ll be fine.”