Schmidt: ‘The whole team is fully focussed’

The stats are compelling. Of the previous 19 home games against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer 04 have only lost twice alongside twelve wins and five draws. Borussia are currently the second weakest team in the league away from home with just two points and three goals in eight games. Roger Schmidt is not a fan of statistics. "Of course, Gladbach's record is a surprise but that doesn't interest us at all and is not a subject of discussion for the team," said the Werkself head coach at the pre-match press conference ahead of the top game at the BayArena on Saturday night (18.30 CET). "We’re just concentrating on being dominant, aggressive and proactive in the match and play our game. We're not judging Borussia by their position in the table."

The fact the Werkself are going into the match in confident mood has nothing to do with numbers but rather due to another very intensive and positive week on the training ground for the Leverkusen squad. "As with the Hertha match, the lads are going into every session full of enjoyment and commitment and on Saturday they will give their all to win the game," declared Schmidt, "the team is fully focused on the next particular match."

There are still some uncertainties in terms of personnel but Schmidt was able to give some good news in that respect. "Danny da Costa, Lars Bender, Kevin Volland, Charles Aránguiz and Stefan Kießling are all back in full training even though one of the other has slight problems. We'll wait for the final training session and then decide who will be in the squad," said the head coach. Aleksandar Dragovic is definitely ruled out of the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach following his injury in the Hertha Berlin match. "But with Drago we are hoping he won't be out for long," said Schmidt who is also looking for vocal support from Werkself supporters on Saturday: "We need the support of our fans, that's very important."

Bailey undergoes medical

Preparations for the Gladbach game are the sole focus at Bayer 04 but Roger Schmidt did give a full response to question about a possible new signing for the Werkself. "Leon Bailey is currently going through a medical here with us," said Schmidt in relation to the 19-year-old winger from the Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk, "there are still a few details to sort out but the probability that he will wear a Bayer 04 shirt is not low."

Bayer 04 are expecting a full house at the BayArena for the top game against Borussia even though there are a few tickets still available. Gladbach will have the support of 4,000 fans at Leverkusen.

‘Commemorative day in German football'

The Bundesliga foundation is supporting the 'Day of commemoration in German football' this weekend on matchday 18 in the top two divisions in Germany – this is an initiative from the '!Nie wieder' (Never again) campaign to commemorate the liberation of survivors at the Auschwitz–Birkenau concentration camp. That expresses the commitment that racism and discrimination has no place in our society or in football. The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945. Further information on the thirteenth day of commemoration in German football and the campaign is available (in German) at www.niewieder.info