"It's Not Just Schalke Who Would Struggle Against Us"

FC Schalke 04 0-1 1. FSV Mainz 05

Niko Bungert (Sporting Director): "We've been bringing more and more fans to away games, and that's developed really well over the past few years. The away end is getting fuller, and there's a real sense of excitement building. It's great to see, but there's no guarantee that things will always continue this way. We're confident that we'll start picking up points at home as well. Right now, though, we're putting in solid, professional performances away from home and getting rewarded with points. When we're at our best and defend as a compact unit, it's not just Schalke who struggle to break us down. That's the standard we set for ourselves, and we always want to keep raising the bar."

Phillip Tietz: "It was a really intense, physical game with plenty of challenges. We did a fantastic job and could have scored another goal or two. But that doesn't matter now because we've got the three points and we're taking them back to Mainz. A huge thank you to the fans. We had 6,000 supporters here, which was incredible. We want to win every game, but unfortunately things haven't been going our way at home recently. I can't wait for next Saturday when we face Bremen. I want to give something back to the fans, ideally with a home win. We can take a lot of confidence from this game because we kept a clean sheet, which was one of our goals. I thought our defensive performance was outstanding. Everyone showed great character, and when you put in a team performance like that, it's really difficult for opponents to score against us."

Danny da Costa: "We started the game really well and had two huge chances. It was important that we were switched on from the very beginning, got stuck in and competed for every ball. We knew it was going to be a tough, physical battle, and we rose to the challenge. We missed a few opportunities to add to our lead and make things more comfortable for ourselves. We knew Schalke would come at us with more intensity in the second half, and we struggled a bit more to hold the ball up. But we defended our goal really well throughout the 90 minutes, and that was the key to winning the game today. When everyone does their job, it's very difficult for opponents to score against us."