Hannover 96 are of bottom of the Bundesliga after three matchdays. Head coach Dieter Hecking talks to bundesliga.de about the poor start.
bundesliga.de: Dieter Hecking, you surely had expected a better start into the season…
Dieter Hecking: Of course. We were caught on the wrong foot at Schalke, being 2-0 down after nine minutes. It's extremely hard to come back then. We then played just 20 good minutes against Cottbus, and these two points are missing now. In Stuttgart we played our best match so far, but we missed chances early on and then conceded from the first dangerous stuation. Unfortunately we didn't find an appropriate answer. Of course we're not satisfied with one point from three matches.
bundesliga.de: What's more annoying, having just one point from three games or having failed to score at all?
Hecking: Both is annoying, but we can't constrain anything. It's best if we analyse the situation without ruffle or excitement. We knew that our first few matches wouldn't be easy, but we can surely play better. I'm sure that we'll show that in the upcoming games.
bundesliga.de: Does the international break help you?
Hecking: We have nine players away on international duty, and some of them return on Thursday or Friday next week. That disturbs the rhythm, because six or seven of those players should face Mönchengladbach. We have two friendlies and the other players can show what they're capable of, but we're surely missing our internationals. On the other hand they could gather confidence with a win.
bundesliga.de: What will you be focussing on in the next days? Finishing or defending set-pieces?
Hecking: Having conceded five goals from set-pieces has been really annoying, especially as we defended well from open play. We really have to work more concentrated in that respect. But it's difficult to train these things this week with a small squad. But we can work on passing and finishing very well.
bundesliga.de: Next up it's against Mönchengladbach. 96 haven't lost the last six games against them and you won both matches with 96 against Borussia. The ideal opponent?
Hecking: Football isn't that easy, and statistics are overrated. Gladbach can play without pressure after securing their first win, and they will be brimming with confidence after beating Bremen. We mustn't be nervous and must face the pressure. Everyone expects us to finally win a match. We need our togetherness as a team and have to believe that we can win this match, no matter how.
bundesliga.de: Robert Enke is Germany's number one keeper at the moment. Are you proud of that?
Hecking: Robert has been doing well in the Bundesliga in recent years, and now he gets his reward. Some experts didn't recognise Robert's class recently, and it's even more pleasant that he now gets the chance to show that he is the best keeper in Germany.
Interview: Sebastian Stolz / Translation: Christof Greiner
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