"We aren't full of ourselves"

Self-confidence grows with success, and our Herthaner have been able to collect plenty of it just in time for their trip to Leipzig on Saturday (25/09/32, 15:30 CEST). After back-to-back wins, the ‘Old Lady’ will be looking to pick up more points against RB Leipzig this weekend, in order to continue their recent run of form. For the first time, Hertha are heading into a match against RBL sitting ahead of them in the table. “We aren’t full of ourselves, but instead we have a disciplined and hard-working team. The lads want to play and are in good spirits, and we’ve prepared well. We are heading to Leipzig and want to extend our unbeaten run to three games, something that is entirely possible,” head coach Pál Dárdai said during a pre-match press conference on Thursday. Herthabsc.de have put together all the key answers from Dárdai and sporting director Arne Friedrich ahead of this weekend’s game. Here’s what the duo had to say about…

Pál Dárdai: Marvin Plattenhardt will be able to play the full 90 minutes. We will have to see how many minutes Márton Dárdai will be able to play, but we’re in close contact with our medical department there. Lucas Tousart is also ready to help out in defence. Cimo Röcker or Christalino Atemona will also be part of our matchday squad, or we might take both of them along. It’s an unusual situation and we will need to improvise.

Arne Friedrich: Our coaching staff has the confidence to continuously use young players, which I think is great. Of course, we aren’t looking to add any more players to our injury list. But, even if something were to happen, we will find new solutions. Our squad is large enough and we have a great academy, where we always pluck good players from. The lads are prepared to feature if needed, which is a great quality we have at Hertha.

Pál Dárdai: I have a lot of respect for RB Leipzig – they have a strong, valuable squad and a great stadium. What they have managed to accomplish over the years is worthy of respect. However, we have also managed to cause an upset and come away with a win in Leipzig despite going down to 10 men in the past. Why shouldn’t that be the case against on Saturday? We aren’t full of ourselves, but instead have a disciplined and hard-working team. The lads want to play and are in good spirits, and we’ve prepared well. We are heading to Leipzig and want to extend our unbeaten run to three games, something that is entirely possible.

Pál Dárdai: Kris really want to play; he feels ready and is pain-free. However, there’s still a visible hitch when he moves, but that’s to be expected after such a long injured spell. We will have to see how he responds to the workload. He will definitely feature against Freiburg by the latest. Whether or not he will play this Saturday will be determined on the feeling we have after our final training session.

Pál Dárdai: The lads are feeling more comfortable with five at the back. We’ve won both our last two games using this formation. Our defence looked good, and there weren’t any moments where we really lost our shape. That’s why we will continue to play with this formation for as long as we feel it's working.

Arne Friedrich: Stability is a key word this season. We all know that we are coming off a very, very tough season. We want to roll up our sleeves, work hard and take small steps in the right direction, instead of moving too quickly. The team are growing ever closer, and there’s a real team spirit developing. But, it’s clear that we still have a lot of work left to do.

Pál Dárdai: In terms of our mentality, it was important that we underwent a small rebuild during the summer. Now, our challenge as coaches will be to get the players to deliver their best performance on the pitch. If we are able to pick up points from our next two games, that’s when we can start to talk of us getting off to a good start. Then we can speak about what direction we want to go in.