Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 preview - Di Matteo set for first Revierderby

Roberto Di Matteo is preparing for his first derby as coach of Schalke, but the former Chelsea manager knows what to expect when he leads his side out at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday.

The two Westphalian and Ruhr district giants meet for the 86th time in a Bundesliga fixture this weekend with Dortmund desperate for points to pull further away from the relegation zone.

Schalke want those points too, though, to keep up their challenge for a place in the Champions League next season, and Di Matteo needs no introduction to what a Revierderby is all about.

"This may be my first Revierderby, but I know what to expect," said the Italian at a press conference.

"Derbies are always quite special. The team, the fans and the whole club have been looking forward to this game for days."

Di Matteo was involved in similar heated encounters both in Rome and in London.

"I had a pretty impressive record in them too," said the 44-year-old. "It's going to be important that we are psychologically ready for the game.

"We expect to face highly-motivated opponents and both sides are going to be very passionate, but also tactically well prepared."

Di Matteo welcomes back Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after suspension.

"It's important to have him back," he said. "Klaas-Jan and (Eric Maxim) Choupo(-Moting) both have a great understanding on the field and they complement each other really well.

"His return is going to do us good."

Di Matteo's counterpart Jurgen Klopp does not have any similar good news, though, after losing Lukasz Piszczek for six weeks with an injury he picked up in the midweek Champions League defeat to Juventus.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos is also a doubt after limping out of the same game.

"We're just hoping every passing hour that his muscles loosen up," said Klopp, who at least can count on Neven Subotic, Shinji Kagawa and Kevin Kampl, who all returned from Turin wearing masks to prevent a flu virus they were carrying from spreading.

All three should be available on Saturday while the virus was contained successfully.