...INJURY REPORT

I'm still without injured trio Anthony Rouault, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Niko Nartey. Fabian Bredlow is also absent with illness, while Enzo Millot and Atakan Karazor are not fully fit but the pair do have a chance of being ready for Sunday. Hiroki Ito has returned from international duty with a minor back problem and was restricted to running for his first training session yesterday. We assume he’ll be fine for Sunday.

...OPPONENT

Heidenheim is consistency and stability. Frank Schmidt’s side may have claimed most of their wins on home turf this season, but the team currently 11th in the table have also picked up points away to good teams lately. It’s awkward playing against Heidenheim. Admittedly they haven’t won for five matches, but they’ve had draws against good teams recently.

...HOME ADVANTAGE

I associate a lot with this stadium. My father worked as general manager here, when I was still very young. It was the best thing for me to sit in the stadium as a fan and cheer on. One thousand games – no other stadium in the Bundesliga can claim that itself. I’m looking forward to a special match, which we also want to give a nice story on the pitch.

…INJURY REPORT

The long-term injured players are still out. Luka Janeš, Lennard Maloney, Adrian Beck and Niklas Beste were recently injured, but completed part of the team training this week. There are still three days until the game, we have to see which of them is ready to play by then.

…OPPONENT

VfB is having an exceptionally good season. They are rightly in the top four of the Bundesliga table and are well on their way to playing in the Champions League next season. VfB Stuttgart plays good football, creates a lot of scoring chances and has a good passing rate. VfB has only lost once in their own stadium this season and the fans create a special atmosphere. But we will also be supported on site by 5,000 FCH fans on Sunday. As in the first leg, we want to create good chances, be dangerous from set pieces, defend passionately and make good use of transitions. If everyone pushes themselves to the maximum, we can take something worthwhile from Stuttgart!

##...ABOUT RELEGATION

We have accepted the fight to stay in the league since the first match day. In the second half of the season, the momentum wasn't always on our side and the necessary luck was missing a bit, but we're not looking back, we're looking forward. The last games of this season are crucial for us. Because we want to get the points we still need in order to be able to celebrate staying in the league at the end of the season!