The player is impressed with his side’s brilliant form at Veltins-Arena this season and is confident of progressing to the Last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
Die Knappen will face Czech side, Viktoria Plzen, in the second-leg of the Round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League at Veltins-Arena on Thursday, February 23. The first-leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Plzen as the German outfit scored
an equalizer in the dying moments of the match.
Hoger claimed that the match at Plzen was a difficult one for his side and admitted that Schalke were lucky in drawing the match in the end. The midfielder is, however, confident of getting a better result in the return leg in
front of the home fans as Schalke have been brilliant all season at Veltins-Arena.
The 22-year old stated that the team is riding high after the 4-0 win against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/VfL-Wolfsburg-c40881 in the Bundesliga this past weekend and admitted that the players will take that confidence in to the next game.
“The match at Plzen was very difficult for us and we definitely didn't play our best football there. Nevertheless I believe the 1-1 draw was a decent result away from home and we now have a good chance of going through to the next
round in front of own fans. After the 4-0 win over Wolfsburg we're full of confidence going into the game,” he was quoted as saying in an interview to Schalke’s official website.
However, the midfielder has warned his teammates against complacency and stated that the opposition will give their all to score early which could make things difficult for Die Knappen. He insisted that the team will need to defend
well to stop the Czech side from creating chances.
“They'll probably try to score first early on to cancel out our away goal, but we're prepared for all eventualities and we know how we need to approach the game in the correct way,” he concluded.
Schalke will be without goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall after the player suffered an injury against Wolfsburg in the league. The first choice shot stopper has been ruled out with a long-term injury and will be replaced by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Timo-Hildebrand-c35115.
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