Sascha Riether: Complete confidence in every player in the squad

“Mainz had their chances, but we also had the chance to win the game in added time. So the draw was a fair result overall,” said the former Schalke player after the game.

However, the 36-year-old didn’t want to use the extensive injury list as an excuse for the team’s three-game wait for a win. “It is what it is and we just have to find a way to deal with it,” Riether explained. “We are missing a few players, but we have complete confidence in every single player in the squad.”

Riether: The team are working just as hard as in the Hinrunde

The young players in the team have been increasingly relied on lately. “It’s perhaps understandable that one or two things aren’t quite working out,” Riether asks for understanding, but at the same time emphasises that the team are working just as hard as they were in the first half of the season. “Barely anyone expected us to play as well as we did in the Hinrunde,” said the former right back, who also acknowledges that there has since been a change of expectations.

Meanwhile, Jean-Clair Todibo lived up to his high expectations in Mainz. “He played fantastically well. In my opinion it was his best performance in a Schalke shirt so far,” Riether praised the young Frenchman, and added, “You can see that the boy is good on the ball and really strong in the tackle. In the first few games there was perhaps something missing but now he’s doing brilliantly!”