'We won't stand a chance solely in terms of skill'

…unavailable players: Jonathan Tah is definitely unavailable. He complained of cold symptoms yesterday. This morning I received the news there was no point in him travelling to Nuremberg. Panos Retsos (ligament injury in thigh, ed.) and Joel Pohjanpalo (rehab following ankle injury ed.) are also unavailable of course."

…Alexander Dragovic as an alternative to Jonathan Tah: "He'll get another chance tomorrow and I'm happy for him. He is very reliable – he was during the pre-season where he played a lot of games and really got stuck in. He's strong in challenges, works well against the ball and mostly makes the right decisions in transitional play. He's also shown that in the games he's played this season – including when he came off the bench."

…the opponents: "Even though Nürnberg have only picked up two points in the last six game they did manage to take a point against top teams like Augsburg (2-2, ed.) and Frankfurt (1-1, ed.) during that run. I watched their game against Schalke last week. And the result (2-5, ed.) doesn't necessarily truly reflect Nürnberg's performance  – they just didn't have the rub of the green in one or two situations."

…tomorrow's game: "We expect Nürnberg to be very compact – as they have been in most of the games they've  played this season. I'm expecting a similar game to the one against Ludogorets. We'll need to defend well against counter-attacks.“

…the chance of a win reducing the gap to sixth place to four points: "Regardless of that, we're heading to Nürnberg to get three points – that has to be our target. We beat Stuttgart last week and now we want to go one better. If we can do that then the table will look a bit better for us. But we're a long way from where we want to be."

…the break many of the regular starters had against Ludogorets (after a similar approach in the league game in Leipzig didn't pay off): "I actually hoped for more in the game in Leipzig: You can lose at  Leipzig but at least you can have the feeling that everybody has given their all. That will be the key approach tomorrow night at Nürnberg against a very aggressive side who win a lot of second balls and are very physical. It will be a difficult task for us – and it won't just happen on its own. If we think we can come out on top solely in terms of skill then we won't stand a chance. This time, I hope resting one or two players will see everybody prepared to put in a shift."

...unusual atmosphere given the possibility of a  small crowd (also due to many Bayer 04 supporters staying away in protest against Monday games): "We will address that with players but we can't change the situation. Of course, we'd be happier if more fans would travel to support us."

…his birthday wish for tomorrow: "For my birthday wish, I hope my team will produce a top performance and push themselves to the limit and then we'll see if we can get a result."

…Panos Retsos, who suffered another injury in his comeback game in the Europa League match against Ludogorets on Thursday following his broken hand and torn thigh ligament: "It's a bitter blow for him. He'd worked hard to get fit again and he had a good game before he had to go off. His injury shook the team – we obviously can't use that as an excuse but that shock did break our game up a bit. Panos is a young player and he will get over this injury. Now he needs support, strength, confidence and patience from us – and, of course, we will provide that. Tomorrow we'll see what happens with him next. Given the severity of the injury it is unlikely he will have to have an operation."