It’s back to Bundesliga action on Saturday for the 05ers, following the conclusion of the international break. They are set to face RB Leipzig at the MEWA ARENA, where they will hope to build on their 3-0 win away to St. Pauli last time out (kick-off 15:30 CEST). The target for the weekend’s clash is a clear one – make sure that, for the first time this season, the three points remain in Mainz.
In his press conference, head coach Bo Henriksen spoke about...
…the current situation within the squad: “Dominik Kohr is suspended after picking up too many yellows and Nikolas Veratschnig will also be missing against Leipzig after an old injury resurfaced during the international break. Karim Onisiwo remains a doubt for the match. Otherwise, everyone is available.”
…Jonathan Burkardt following his return from international duty: “Jonny got in touch with us at the start of the week to say that he wanted to be back in training again already on Wednesday, in order to be fit and ready for the Leipzig game, even though he would have just got back from playing with his national side. He would have happily trained more than he ended up doing but we wanted to ease him back into things a bit. That’s the sort of attitude Jonny is always showing, being the highly professional player that he is.”
...the key motivational figures within the team: “It isn’t important to me who gives the team talk in the huddle before each match. He wasn’t the captain against St. Pauli, but it was Robin Zentner who spoke to the guys before the game. Jonny may wear the captain’s armband more often but he’s not the loudest player in the squad, rather he leads the way by example. He also has a good feel for his teammates, who he communicates with a lot. He certainly isn’t a hard person to get behind.”
…the prospect of a first home win this season: “Of course, we have respect for Leipzig but we are also aware of what we are capable of at home. In the past, we have proven that we can give good performances in our home matches. We obviously haven’t played as well at home as we would have liked up to this point. We need to take that feeling we had in the second half against St. Pauli, defend just as well and get ourselves up the pitch with the ball. Leipzig are clearly a great side but anything can happen when you play at home.”
…lessons learned from the 0-0 draw against Leipzig last season: “We certainly can’t perform like that again. Robin Zentner performed as excellently then in Leipzig as he has done in recent weeks. We have to be more courageous both with and without the ball, and it’s also important that we are more aggressive and defend better. Anything is possible if we can perform like that.”