Hertha BSC Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen preview - Hertha hoping to bounce back

The pressure is mounting on Hertha Berlin coach Jos Luhukay ahead of Wednesday night's visit of Bayer Leverkusen to the Olympiastadion.

The club from Germany's capital had hoped a 5-0 defeat at home to Hoffenheim in their final game of 2014 would have been put right at the start of the second half of the season, but a 2-0 loss in Bremen was hardly a step in the right direction.

The Old Lady now host Leverkusen before travelling to Mainz at the weekend, and those two games could determine the Dutchman's future at the cub.

"It's just not on that we start the second half of the season with such a performance," bemoaned goalkeeper Thomas Kraft on Sunday.

"We've got a great deal of work to do.

"We're just making too many simple mistakes and we don't have the required incision up front.

"We've all got to be critical with ourselves, starting with me and going through the entire team, to find out why things are not working."

Leverkusen may not be the most comfortable of opponents to face at such a delicate time, but their coach Roger Schmidt is not going to make the mistake of underestimating Hertha, who find themselves just a point above the relegation zone.

"It's going to be very difficult, particularly because Hertha lost in Bremen and will now want to show a different face at home," he said at a press conference.

"Berlin have been extremely strong at home this season. They beat Dortmund and Wolfsburg at the Olympiastadion and so it's going to be a very intense, tight match in which we're going to have to be well organised and take our chances."

Leverkusen did not get many chances against Dortmund on Saturday and, as a result of their goalless draw, they slipped to sixth in the standings.

They could also be without Josip Drmic due to a cold virus while Heung-Min Son has been given a break after the Asian Cup and Robbie Kruse is ruled out after damaging ligaments in Australia's victory over Son's South Korea in the final in Sydney.