tricky match against 96 ahead

Werkself's visit of Hannover 96 is one of the trickier encounters as their opposition is far better than their lower table performance shows. Although many tabbed 96 to threaten the top six, the have been slaughtered with injuries and now only three points out of the relegation zone. Combined with their inability to win on the road, Bruno Labbadia is expecting a bitter fight for points tomorrow afternoon.

The Werkself coach said of 96:

“Hannover will play a disciplined game up front. They won’t throw everything into attack but instead wait for mistakes and it’s up to us to keep these to a minimum. We’ve got 13 matches left and there are no easy games amongst them. It’s all about qualifying for Europe and we can’t afford to drop any points.”

Lukas Sinkiewicz and Hans Sarpei will step in for Gonzalo Castro and Henrique are both suspended for the match. Tomasz Zdebel will miss out but Toni Kroos is expected to see his first action for Werkself. Key area to watch in this match is how Tranquillo Barnetta tries to spring Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling free against what is potentially a very disciplined group of defenders.