"If we need anything to give us confidence, then we can use the meeting from earlier this season" | OneFootball

Ole Werner is hoping to shock the defending champions from Leverkusen (Photo: W.DE).

Press conference ahead of trip to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen

SV Werder Bremen are hoping to record a positive result this weekend, as they travel to take on defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Saturday, 8th March, 15:30 CET). At the pre-match press conference, head coach Ole Werner spoke about…

…Marvin Ducksch and Niklas Stark: "Duckschi is still dealing with a muscular problem in his thigh. It's getting better, but we can't say for certain whether he'll be able to return to face Gladbach. Starki is in a similar situation with his knee problems – there's no structural damage, so we have to take it day-by-day and hope that he will be able to return next week."

…captain Marco Friedl: "He took part in the warm-up once with the team and otherwise has trained individually. We're aiming to steadily increase his workload but it wouldn't be realistic to expect him to return next week. We're confident that – at the latest – he will be able to return after the international break, and there's a small chance that he could be ready for the Gladbach game already. He's still very present in our dressing room and available to speak to, but we are certainly missing him out on the pitch."

…opponents Bayer 04 Leverkusen: "The key thing will be for us to defend well. When we win possession, we have to make the most of it. Leverkusen have a strong press and we will need to make good runs up the pitch. Two more key factors will be making the decision on when to counter versus when to remain in possession."

…prearing for the game: "If we need anything to give us confidence, then we can use the fixture from earlier this season. Of course we also watched their Champions League match, but it's a different scenario to the weekly routine in the Bundesliga, which is what we're focused on."

…Michael Zetterer: "Just as we're going through a tough time as a team, the same is true for many players. We need to remain focused on what we can impact, which is what Zetti is doing. It's about finding a way out of this tough situation. Both we and him are aware of the fact that he's able to play better than he has been. I'm confident that he will return to his previous best if he continues working in this manner."

…Keke Topp: "It's clear to see how happy he is to have returned from injury. Of course, he's still got some ground to make up in terms of his fitness. For us, it's just important to have him back available as an additional option and that he was able to play last weekend already."

…the mood: "It's obvious that negative results have an influence on the overall mood. The important thing is that we work to counteract that and I have the impression that that's exactly what we're doing. It's up to all of us to bring what we're working on in training to the pitch on matchday. Our performance against Wolfsburg was already an improvement on the previous games."

Ole Werner on the number of goals conceded

…the number of goals conceded: "We allowed our opponents two shots in our most recent game – it's not possible to face much less. One of the goals came from a set piece and the other from 25 metres out, which is why it's tough to place the blame on our back-three. It's true that we're conceding too often to pick up points. The reasons for that are varied, which is why it can't be attributed to just one area of the pitch."

…who will take the next penalty: "We've never had a set order, either with Fülle or Duckschi. In general, the idea is that one of the attackers will step up to take it, because they're most likely to find themselves in that situation. André Silva scored 12 out of 12 penalties prior to the game in Freiburg, so I won't ban him from taking them."

…his contract extension: "In general, we've been able to accomplish a lot over the last three and a half years. At the minute, we're going through a rough patch but we're up to the challenge and we will solve it. I can't really comment on it otherwise – it's not a topic that I'm focused on right now. If you're talking about wanting to work together long-term, then it's about finding solutions to problems that you haven't managed to solve in the past. There's still a level of trust to be felt from both sides."