"WE’LL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO WIN THIS GAME FOR THE CLUB"

1. FSV Mainz 05’s relegation battle continues on Sunday evening (19:30 CEST) as they round off matchday 32 of the 23/24 Bundesliga season with a clash against 1. FC Heidenheim. The match against FCH serves as an opportunity for the 05ers to pick up their first away victory in over a year. M05’s head coach emphasised that there are no nerves, even at such a crucial phase of the campaign: “That’s football – I love it. We start playing when we’re four or five years old for moments like these where something’s at stake and we can achieve greatness,” stated Bo Henriksen in a press conference on Friday, two days prior to the clash. The Dane will be forced into making a number of changes to the side that have started the last few matches due to Brajan Gruda, Nadiem Amiri and Phillipp Mwene’s suspensions, as well as Karim Onisiwo’s injury.

FSV’s head coach spoke about the following topics

The takeaways from the draw against Köln 

"We didn’t feel great after the break, the atmosphere wasn’t quite right. We should’ve kept playing as we had been and chanced our arm a bit more. Everyone should have been looking to get   on the ball and play with courage. I didn’t see enough of that in the second half against Köln. That happens, though. I want to see my players hungry again on Sunday. We’ll devise a game plan that all the boys feel comfortable with."

This week’s training

“We’ve trained really well this week. I think the fans that came along to the public training sessions will have seen that, too. We thrive off that energy, we need it. We want to take it into every game and we’re looking forward to showing what we’ve got in our locker."

Absentees

"Players missing games is part of football. In an ideal world, everyone would be fit, but it doesn’t work like that. We’ll make use of other players who I’m convinced have the required quality. I’m not worried at all. They’ll want to take their chance after we’ve named pretty much the same starting XI recently. Above all, our captain Silvan Widmer will be itching to start again."

Other options

"We’ve got Marco Richter, Ludovic Ajorque and Nelson Weiper waiting in the wings. Nelly’s comeback is really important. All three have been training really well. Whoever plays has to be ready to do everything they can for the team and their teammates. Everyone’s an option - that applies to the starting line-up, too. We’ll take our chances and have to ensure that we keep defending well. We’ll do everything we can together to win the game on Sunday for the club."

Heidenheim’s strengths

"We prepare for the opposition’s set-pieces before every game. They’re good at them, but we are as well. We have a lot of respect for them, since they’ve done an amazing job so far this season. I think that the deciding factor is going to be what we do, however. It’s important that we go into the game with emotion, passion and belief. The players have faith because, over the past few weeks, they’ve watched and felt what it’s like to win."

Jonny Burkardt

"When you go back and look at the games he’s scored in, he’s been playing centrally. The most important thing is that he makes his presence felt in the box – that’s where he’s a real threat. His movement is incredible, his anticipation is excellent and he’s very clever."

The final few games of the season

"We know what lies ahead of us - three incredibly important games with everything on the line. It’ll be fun. We want to get results, especially away from home. As I always say, streaks are there to be broken."