Rose: We have to get back to our best on the pitch again

Head coach Marco Rose spoke at the digital press conference ahead of the DFB-Pokal quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night (20:45 CET).

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…squad news: Stefan Lainer is fit again and is available for the game. Apart from that, not much has changed as far as we’re concerned as we didn’t pick up any new injury concerns from the Leipzig game. Oscar Wendt and Jordan Beyer only had cramp, so both are fit again now. Tony Jantschke still has some muscle problems, so he won’t be available tomorrow.

…possible squad rotation: We made six changes to the starting XI in Leipzig compared to the game against Manchester City. We intend to bring in some fresh legs again tomorrow because we consider this a very important match. What we need is a top side that will be able to work hard and run intensively over 120 minutes if necessary, but if some players get tired after 60 or 70 minutes then we can bring in some others.

…the goalkeeper for tomorrow: Tobias Sippel will be in goal tomorrow night because he has done an outstanding job here for many years, he is in excellent form at the moment, and he has done very well in the cup so far. We have a lot of confidence in him so there's no reason to change anything just because it's the quarter-finals. Sippi has earned this chance and I am sure he will rise to the occasion and put in a good performance. Of course, Yann Sommer is also keen to play tomorrow which shows his mentality as a professional. But he also knows how important this is for Sippi and therefore he completely supports this decision. Besides, a break will do Yann some good.

…the Foals’ current situation: We set ourselves high expectations for this season, but it's part of football that you sometimes find yourself in phases where you start to lose sight of those goals because the results aren't going your way. We are in one of those phases at the moment. However, tomorrow is a different competition and the boys should focus on that. The focus is on improving on the Leipzig game. We played it backwards too often so we need to be braver and play more incisively. We have to get back to our best on the pitch again. That means sticking to our plan and playing good football with a lot of emotion and passion.

…the importance of the match: The DFB-Pokal is a huge trophy for any club. It offers every team the chance to win silverware and qualify for European football. Accordingly, the game tomorrow is extremely important as it offers us a great opportunity.

…conclusions from the recent 4-2 win over BVB: The number one thing we take away from that game is that when we click as a team, we can defeat a top team like Dortmund. We were really in the flow at that point while they were going through a tough period. This time, the roles are reversed. They've won three consecutive matches and are playing well while we are not getting as many positive results at the minute. That's why it's so important that we focus on the fact that it's a different competition tomorrow and see the knockout game as an opportunity.

…BVB striker Erling Haaland: He's an incredibly difficult player to keep under control. You definitely can't take him out of the game completely so you have to focus on keeping him as quiet as possible. He's very strong on the turn and is a very dynamic attacker who has an incredible poacher’s instinct in the box. We’ll have to defend against him very well and pick up his runs as early as possible. The best thing we can do is to win back the ball beforehand and focus on our own strengths.

…the media storm surrounding him in the run-up to this game: Coaching here is a big challenge and I need every grain of energy to master the current circumstances here together with the boys. There are always lots of narratives and lots of talk in the build-up to games like this, but I’m not paying it any attention. I'm feeling the same pressure ahead of tomorrow's game that I feel ahead of every game. Tomorrow is not about Marco Rose in any way; it's about the team and Borussia Mönchengladbach. we intend to fight with everything we've got to get into the semi-finals tomorrow night.