Stöger: "TSG have a lot of quality"

Kevin, you won four consecutive matches before the 4-0 defeat against Leipzig. What's made you so strong recently?

"The match against Leipzig aside, we've been defending very compactly and well. We've given it everything and everyone has fought for each other. We've obviously had the little bit of luck you need in one or two games, but I think that we deserved to win the matches."

That good run has allowed you to move away from the relegation zone. How important is that given your objective of staying up?

"It was very good for us to win four matches in a row. Being the only team to have beaten Dortmund this season gives you self-confidence. The next few matches will be intense and we know that we might go on a negative run at some point. We went into the winter break on the back of a successful result and that allowed us to head into the holidays in relaxed fashion. It was brilliant for our self-confidence to continue with a victory in the first game back in Augsburg. Obviously you look at the table after each game and when your direct rivals lose at the same time, that's a very nice feeling."

You've scored a lot of crucial goals in the closing stages. Why do you think it is that you've been stronger than your opponents in the final minutes?

"We work very intensively and trained very hard during the mid-season preparations. We always fight to the last second and are perhaps slightly more dangerous than the opposition. In addition, our substitutions give us fresh legs. We won thanks to a goal from the bench against Augsburg. It's very important that we can throw on even more quality from the bench."

You won the reverse fixture 2-1 and recorded your first Bundesliga victory since gaining promotion. What was key to winning the game that day?

"It was an intense match. On that day too we had the bit of luck you need. Andrej Kramaric had a huge opportunity to put Hoffenheim into the lead with the score at 0-0. Obviously we were lucky there because the game would've been different otherwise. It'll be important again at the weekend for us to give away few chances and to avoid conceding for as long as we possibly can."

How do you assess TSG and what kind of game are you expecting on Saturday?

"TSG have a lot of quality. They scored four goals away to SC Freiburg, which is very difficult. We want to be compact and keep a clean sheet for a long time. Then we'll get our chances. We need to give it our absolute all so that we can take a point from it. I would take a point given that it's a difficult match."

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