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22.04.2022Bundesliga

Seoane ahead of #SGFB04: Courage and long-range shots

The Werkself are away to SpVgg Greuther Fürth in the penultimate Bundesliga away game of the season on Saturday 23 April (kick-off: 15.30 CEST). While the newcomers have no chance of staying up without a win at the Sportpark Ronhof, Bayer 04 will look to maintain fourth place with the help of over 1,100 travelling fans.

In search of a win away to Greuther Fürth, the main focus at the BayArena this week was on attacking. "What we've recently been missing is definitely being clinical in the final third," said head coach Gerardo Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The past few days has seen more one-to-one discussions as well as individual video analysis. "We've said to the lads what we demand and expect of them in each game: brave and direct approaches to the penalty area but also shots from outside the box."

Fürth "courageous and compact"

In spite of the Cloverleaves being bottom and facing relegation (eleven-point gap to sixteenth place), Seoane believes his team face a demanding challenge – also due to the changed approach that has brought more stability to the Fürth defence in recent games: "They’ve played good football for a long time. They will be courageous and compact at home as they are in every game," analysed the Swiss coach. "For me, our performance on the day is crucial. We have to be more offensive and pose more of a threat on goal without losing our defensive shape."

How the Werkself defence will line-up will only become clear after the final pre-match training session on Friday afternoon. Edmond Tapsoba received a kick on the ankle in the 1-0 home defeat against RB Leipzig last Sunday and he still had slight problems on Thursday. Seoane on the 23-year-old central defender: "If the final training session is normal for Eddy then he'll be with us tomorrow."

Sinkgraven can make his mark on the "wrong" side

In the event that Tapsoba is not available in time, the head coach has left-footed Daley Sinkgraven in mind for the right side of defence; the right-footed Odilon Kossounou would move into central defence alongside Jonathan Tah. "Of course, it's different for a player in terms of orientation but you can make your mark offensively on the ‘wrong’ side. Daley has high technical quality and great game intelligence that will obviously help him in a different position," said Seoane about the Dutchman.

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