Hoeness: "We want to establish ourselves in the top half"
Sebastian Hoeness on…
…the personnel situation: "Ermin Bičakčić, Benjamin Hübner and Håvard Nordtveit remain unavailable for us. There are question marks surrounding Sebastian Rudy (back problems). Ihlas Bebou will be back in the squad again."
…Arminia Bielefeld: "They're a similar opponent to Mainz. Bielefeld attack quickly and their robustness also makes them very dangerous from second balls. They're very compact at the back and are always capable of frustrating teams."
...the defeat against Mainz: "We were lacking physical and mental freshness. Some of the players were under a lot of strain due to their international commitments. The game was open until it went to 1-0. We cannot concede goals like that first one. It's always difficult to come back against Mainz. We were reminded of that on Saturday. We conducted our analysis after the match and looked for the causes. We're now looking forward."
…the objectives for the coming weeks: "We want to pick up points in the next three games before the international break. We're in the top half of the table and want to establish ourselves there. To do so, we need to perform better than we did against Mainz."
The opposition's form:
Arminia Bielefeld are still waiting for their first victory of the Bundesliga season. Frank Kramer's side succumbed to a 3-1 away defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach at the weekend, having previously drawn all three of their matches.
Head-to-head record:
The two teams have faced each other in the top flight on four previous occasions. So far, TSG have conceded only one goal and are yet to taste defeat (two wins and two draws).