FC Augsburg will travel to play 1. FC Köln on Sunday afternoon on matchday 10 (16th October, 15:30 CEST). Head coach Enrico Maaßen has a number of players unavailable, but still has belief in his in-form team.

“We want to continue playing like we have in recent weeks against Köln,” said Enrico Maaßen at the pre-match press conference. FC Augsburg are currently on a four-game unbeaten run (W3, D1) and want to build on that excellent form. “We’re playing well and we want to take something from this game as well.”

Although Köln have lost each of their last three competitive games, Maaßen is well aware of how tough a match it will be. “Köln definitely rotated during the week in Europe ahead of this Bundesliga game to ensure some players will be fresh. It will be a fantastic atmosphere, however we need to just focus on ourselves and we’re looking forward to the game.”

There will certainly be changes at the back for FCA. Both Maximilian Bauer and captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw are suspended after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season last time out. “We have a number of options for our defence, though I don’t want to reveal too much. We could also opt for a back-three,” commented Maaßen. Goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz has still not been able to train with the first team and will subsequently miss out on this weekend’s game too.

Hahn and Dorsch undergo successful operations

Other injury concerns are Arne Maier and Mergim Berisha. The forward was suspended for last week’s draw with Wolfsburg. “We’ll have to see how Mergim is tomorrow. I hope that we can get him fit in time and he can get some minutes,” stated Maaßen. Despite the number of absentees, the FCA boss is confident: “We always have to deal with challenges like this and make the best out of the situation. The lads who haven’t featured much so far will now get a chance to impress. The team is in good form and that will help the lads.”

The Fuggerstädter will be without André Hahn and Niklas Dorsch for a longer period of time. Hahn has already undergone a successful operation, while Dorsch has broken his metatarsal again and has also gone under the knife. “It’s obviously not an easy time for the lads and we’re really sad for them. Niklas will be back next year and André simply has to look to the future.”

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