Hamburger - Mainz preview - Hjulmand hoping for Hamburg defeat

Posted Saturday, December 06, 2014 by PA

Mainz coach Kasper Hjulmand hopes his side will end up on the right side of a fine line between success and failure when they travel to Hamburg this weekend.

After starting the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak, the side with the most draws in the Bundesliga have now gone five games without a win.

"Many of our games were on a knife edge," Hjulmand said. "That goes for these five games as much as it does for the first eight.

"I've seen plenty of good things, but also lots of things which were not so good."

Mainz are therefore at a crossroads in their season with three wins, three defeats and seven draws, aware they can close in on the top five just as easily as they can drop down towards the bottom three.

Hjulmand is hoping for the former scenario.

"I expect a reaction," he said at a press conference. "We need to concentrate and have a good mentality for 90 minutes."

His opposite number Josef Zinnbauer is hoping the second scenario will set in at Mainz since that would mean his side narrow the deficit to just a single point on Sunday and possibly move out of the relegation zone.

"We want to make it three home wins in a row," Zinnbauer said. "If everybody on the field and also the fans give it 100 per cent then we've also got a good chance."

Zinnbauer must find a replacement for Heiko Westermann, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year due to injury.

Cleber took his place last weekend and he is one of the candidates to step in, while Dennis Diekmeier, who returns from suspension, has heaped praise on the Brazilian.

"It's cool how he desperately wants to learn the language and is already giving orders in German on the field," said Diekmeier of his potential new partner in the Hamburg defence.