FC St. Pauli

"Sandhausen are a solid team who have improved under Kenan Kocak," said Janßen in the run-up to the game. "They deserve to be up near the top." In figures, up near the top means 17 points and fifth place. The main reason why Sandhausen have made their best start in six years in the second division is their defence, which has conceded just eight goals in ten games.

SVS were "rewarded" for their strong performances with the Monday night game of the week slot – the first time one of their home games has been selected for this fixture since they gained promotion in 2012. This season they haven't minded which day it is - their four home wins have come on a Tuesday (1-0 against Union Berlin), a Friday (1-0 against Ingolstadt), a Saturday (1-0 against Kaiserslautern) and a Sunday (2-0 against Regensburg).

Olaf Janßen's side will do everything they can to ensure Sandhausen don't add a Monday to that list. Bernd Nehrig and Co. hope to build on their recent away form, which has seen them win four times already this term and come home empty-handed just once after a 3-0 defeat at Darmstadt. The Boys in Brown have already shown they know how to be successful on a Monday when they won 1-0 at Nürnberg in mid-September.

There has been no let-up on the injury front since the 1-1 draw against Kaiserslautern and eight players are unable to make the trip to Sandhausen. Ryo Miyaichi, Philipp Ziereis, Marc Hornschuh, Philipp Heerwagen, Yiyoung Park and Aziz Bouhaddouz have been joined on the injury list by Cenk Sahin (MCL tear) and Richard Neudecker (sprained ankle).

Sandhausen will also be without a number of players, including defensive organiser Tim Kister (one-match ban) and Lucas Höler (torn calf muscle), their leading goalscorer with five goals so far.

Photo: Witter