Rounding off a multi-match week against last-placed team
After an energy-sapping week of multiple matches, SV Elversberg will also be seeking to score points against Jahn Regensburg. However, SVE’s coach refuses to be blinded by their last-place position – and is focussing on ensuring a fresh team.
On Saturday, SV Elversberg are rounding off their multi-match week with an intense away game against SSV Jahn Regensburg. After triumphing over Hamburger SV in a second-division duel and their DFB Cup experience against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, SVE are now turning their attentions to recovering and building on their recent performances in the Regensburger Jahnstadion.
‘The boys naturally have a sensible plan for the game in Regensburg, but our first priority is to regain our freshness – both physically and mentally’, Elversberg’s coach Horst Steffen emphasises. However, the setback caused by the captain being out with an injury has made preparations rather more difficult. Robin Fellhauer, who looks likely to be out for the long term with a bone oedema in his ankle, will be sorely missed. Fellhauer has been the focal point of Elversberg’s play in recent weeks. If and how Steffen will be able to compensate for this remains to be seen.
Hosts SSV Jahn Regensburg are also in a challenging position in the 2. Bundesliga: the club are in last place in the table with four points, and their ledger of four goals for versus 30 goals against highlights the Upper Palatinate team’s defensive issues. However, their mood was significantly brightened by an unexpected cup win against Greuther Fürth under caretaker coach Andreas Patz. This recent 1:0 success gave the team a vital morale boost. ‘I am curious to see what Regensburg do and if they change anything compared with their cup game’, Steffen notes. In his view, what counts is how SSV Jahn Regensburg are actually playing on match day: ‘What interests me is how Regensburg are on match day, and how we can beat them.’ Elversberg’s coach wants his team to achieve one thing above all: ‘a good end to a multi-match week, with a good game and ideally some points.’
Patz himself is being both realistic and modest. Despite their successful cup debut, he wants to focus on his team and their fans. ‘That was a cup fight’, Patz says of the match against Fürth, ‘and it was of course a fantastic debut for me personally.’ However, it is not about him, but rather his team, the club and the fans, he emphasises. For this upcoming game, it will be crucial to ‘display the same values and readiness that we did on Tuesday’. Following the cup victory, Patz expects his team to feel safer with ‘a win under their belts’, boosting the Upper Palatinate team’s confidence as they head into their duel against Elversberg.
However, Patz emphasises that he understands what a challenge SVE pose. ‘Their position in the table says it all’, notes Regensburg’s interim coach, with huge respect for the promoted team’s 16 points. ‘They have lots of experienced players in their ranks and in my view have essentially become an established second-division team.’ However, Patz is hoping that his team will put on a ‘different face’ in front of their home fans. The 9,000 spectators in Jahnstadion will be wanting to see the changes that the coach has promised.
Both teams are now focusing on rounding off an intensive week in style. SVE‘s coach Steffen is being forced to fill Fellhauer’s position on the team with a new configuration, and the away team will have to show whether their improved form under Patz will be carried over into the league. Saturday will be a real test of morale and resilience, not only for the two teams but also for the spectators. Plus SVE have an opportunity to further gild a successful week – and ultimately secure their place among the second division frontrunners.