Kerem Demirbay: "We're a force at home"

Kerem, what were you thinking as you scored in the 93rd minute in Köln?

Kerem Demirbay: Just before the end, I was certain that I was going to score. I saw the space and the ball came to me. I gave Niki a sign to play me the ball. He played it just a little too far in front and so it fell perfectly for me. Then I just put it in. What happened after that is hard to describe. The whole team came sprinting over to me and jumped on me and I can honestly say it was an awesome feeling.  

Was that the most important goal of your career to date?

Demirbay: Corr. Probably yes. But I can only answer that at the end of the season.

What was the mood in the dressing room after the game?

Demirbay: Everyone had mixed feelings. We were very happy that we’d got the necessary point to qualify for Europe, but we weren’t happy with the performance and we all felt that we had dropped two points. That was also the feeling on the bus on the way home. I think that is what has changed about us this season – we’re always looking for things that we can improve on.

Eintracht Frankfurt are the visitors on Sunday. What’s your opinion of the team from Hesse?

Demirbay: Obviously Frankfurt haven’t done as well in the second half of the season as they did in the first, but they’re still a strong opponent. The will fight, be hard to break down and make it difficult for us. But we’re playing at home and we’re a force at home. We’ll give everything to get the home win. The points would be very important and I’m hopeful we can get all three.

You missed the first game with Frankfurt due to injury. It was a tough match, what memories do you have of it?

Demirbay: I watched the game from the stadium. It was loud in the stands and the match was hectic and hard-fought. There were a lot of fouls and both sets of players gave everything. It was a real fight. It’s not a derby but there was definitely a derby feel to the game that evening. I think we’re expecting another physical game on Sunday and I’m looking forward to getting out there on the pitch.

You have two home and two away matches to go. What’s the target?

Demirbay: No-one probably believes me when I say we need to just focus on one game at a time. It’s no use thinking about the game in Dortmund before we’ve played Frankfurt. We want to beat Frankfurt and then we’ll keep going.

Dennoch: What would it mean to you and the team to finish third?

Demirbay: There are still four games to go so there are still twelve points to play for. Obviously if we do achieve that it would be tremendous. But it won’t be easy starting with Frankfurt on Sunday. Third place is our target. That’s the best we can do. I know that the whole team will give everything to try and achieve this.

Your first Bundesliga season as an established first team regular is almost over. How happy are you with your performance this season?

Demirbay: On the whole I’m pleased with how it’s gone, but really I have to wait until the end of the season to answer that. Then we’ll have a conclusion and I’ll be able to evaluate. I want to help the team in the remaining matches and if I do that and we reach our target then I’ll be very happy. That would constitute a very good season.

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