Alexander Blessin on…<\/p>\n
…the injury situation: \u201cThe international players are looking good and came back unscathed apart from Eric Smith. I\u2019m gutted for him, not least because he would have played in the decisive match against Poland. It\u2019s a big blow for him and for us, too, but it doesn\u2019t look as though he\u2019ll be out for too long. We\u2019re hopeful he\u2019ll be available to face Bayern, but we\u2019ll have to wait and see what happens over the next few days. Some of the others came back with victories under their belts. Nikola Vasilj was greeted with thunderous applause when he came in. It\u2019s a dream come true for him. It\u2019ll give him a lift and he\u2019s taking the positive energy with him. Connor Metcalfe got lots of playing time, but Arkadiusz Pyrka wasn\u2019t in the squad for the second game unfortunately. Joel Chima Fujita had some minor issues and didn\u2019t play in the second game, but he trained normally today. Tomoya And\u014d withdrew from the Japan squad early but I think he\u2019ll be available for the Bayern game. Lars Ritzka had only minor surgery and is available again, but the game comes around too early for Manolis Saliakas. He increased the pace today and things are looking good. We can expect him to be back for the Bayern game.\u201d<\/p>\n
…Jackson Irvine, who didn\u2019t hook up with Australia for workload reasons: \u201cThat was so important. The conversation with the Australia coach went very well. Jacko is really important for him and needs to focus on his foot. The follow-up scan looked good, which is obviously reassuring. The pain is gradually subsiding and it\u2019s done him a world of good. I hope he\u2019ll show the usual energy on Sunday because we all know how important he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
…opponents Union Berlin and his expectations going into the game: \u201cThey focus very much on their set pieces and throw-ins and will keep trying to create these situations. We know all about that from the first game when a lapse in concentration from a throw-in was severely punished. There\u2019ll be lots of situations where it\u2019ll come down to the second balls and we have to be alert to that. It could be very frustrating with lots of transition, long balls and toing and froing. We\u2019ll have to show a degree of tolerance and accept it but also try to find ways to create chances.\u201d<\/p>\n
…the threat of suspension: \u201cI need to take a deep breath every now and then and maybe reach for my water bottle a bit more often. You have to collect yourself and think very carefully about what you say. Sometimes you let your emotions get the better of you. The seven remaining matches are a hurdle I have to negotiate but I\u2019ll manage it. They\u2019re interesting and important games where you have to be fully committed emotionally, but you have to calm down again at the right moment. That\u2019s the challenge I\u2019ve set myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
…his approach for the seven-game run-in: \u201cWe\u2019ve got to grit our teeth and see it through. There are seven finals left and we can\u2019t afford many more slip-ups. We still have games against our nearest rivals, though, so it\u2019s in our own hands. There can be no letting up. We have to think back to the decent spell we had, but we know nothing will be handed to us on a plate. We\u2019ve always coped well when we\u2019ve had injuries. The lads have accepted it and are sticking together even more. That\u2019s an important point when you look at the seven games we have left. Win or lose, the lads are ready to go through fire and water. Our performances have reflected that, but we need to match them with results now. If we do that, I\u2019m confident we\u2019ll achieve our objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photos:: FC St. Pauli<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Blessin on… …the injury situation: \u201cThe international players are looking good and came back unscathed apart from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,2212,2210,2206,2203,939,2214,713,2208,2201,2207,2202,42,2205,2211,2204,2209,2200,2213],"class_list":{"0":"post-2083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-club-shop","10":"tag-community-projects","11":"tag-fan-culture","12":"tag-fan-shop","13":"tag-history","14":"tag-inclusion","15":"tag-live-stream","16":"tag-match-reports","17":"tag-match-schedule","18":"tag-matches","19":"tag-merchandise","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-professionals","22":"tag-social-responsibility","23":"tag-stadium","24":"tag-supporters","25":"tag-tickets","26":"tag-womens-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}