Karel Geraerts: It's about having the right mentality

This will mark the second time since 2011 that the Royal Blues have been drawn against Aalen, who qualified as the winners of the Württemberg Cup. Back then, Schalke won 2-1 on their way to eventually lifting the DFB-Pokal for the fifth time in club history. Head coach Karel Geraerts kept it short and sweet in the lead-up to the match, saying “Our aim is quite clearly to win this match.”

However, the Schalke boss isn’t expecting an easy game against the fifth-division side. “Aalen have some interesting players, including two or three tall ones. We can also expect there to be over 14,000 people at the game.” He added, “We need to remain true to ourselves and can’t go into this game thinking that we’ve already won.”

S04 go into Saturday’s match having already played two league games – a 5-1 win against Eintracht Braunschweig and a 3-1 loss against 1. FC Nürnberg  – while Aalen have recorded a 1-1 draw against SSV Reutlingen so far. According to Geraerts, they can most likely expect to come up against an opponent that will defend deep. “First and foremost, I’m focused on our mentality and on having a good mindset,” the coach explained. “That will help give us confidence – if we don’t have either of these qualities, then things can easily go wrong.”

Geraerts will be without several players for the opening round of the cup, but isn’t worried, saying “We have enough players in the squad to compensate for these absences.”

Ron-Thorben Hoffmann to start in goal

The head coach didn’t reveal much about his starting line-up or which changes he might make, saying “The players need to earn their spots by delivering strong performances in training.” The head coach did confirm that Ron-Thorben Hoffmann will start in goal, after Justin Heekeren had been the first choice in the previous two games. “The two of them are meant to push each other – now, Thorben will be able to show what he’s capable of,” Geraerts explained.