FIRST TEAM
02/06/2014

TSG travel to Freiburg - never change a winning team?

When TSG meet SC Freiburg at 15:30 CET on Saturday, Markus Gisdol expects to face a side that will “push to the limit.” Speaking his pre-match press conference in Zuzenhausen on Thursday, the manager said that “the 3-3 draw earlier this season was a tough battle and a very open game from both sides.”

Gisdol hardly has any personnel issues to be concerned with ahead of the derby, in which 700 travelling Hoffenheim fans will be supporting their team. Stefan Thesker is the only definite absentee. There is still a question mark surrounding Sven Schipplock's availability, with the striker having to undergo treatment earlier in the week with an Achilles problem. “We're waiting for further developments,” said the Hoffenheim manager. He is also considering sending out the same XI that started last weekend's 3-0 win over HSV. But Gisdol has left the door open and will wait until after the final training session and the trip to Freiburg on Friday afternoon before making a decision.

Playing down victory

SC Freiburg have held table-toppers Bayern Munich to a draw at home and also beat second-placed Bayer Leverkusen there not two weeks ago. Gisdol knows that there won't be any low-hanging fruit in Freiburg. “The important thing is not to read into the win against Hamburg too much, just like the defeat to Nürnberg the week before. We can't afford to forget what we need to do in order to make our game plan work,” said the TSG boss, hoping to see a continued effort following on from the HSV match.

Johnson to leave at the end of the season

Another topic of discussion in the press conference was Fabian Johnson's decision to leave TSG at the end of the campaign. “We fought hard to keep him for a long time,” said Gisdol regretfully. “It's a shame that he's going. But he has promised to give his all until the end of the season and there is no reason for us to doubt that.”

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