After the Cottbus win, Rot-Weiss Essen will be looking to confirm the trend at Erzgebirge Aue. This is how the coach intends to approach it.

Rot-Weiss Essen recently made an impressive return to the 3rd division with a 4-0 home win over Energie Cottbus. Now, on Sunday (4:30 p.m.), they will travel to Erzgebirge Aue, accompanied by 300 RWE supporters.

The question before the game, in which RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski has to do without Julian Eitschberger, Ekin Celebi, Nils Kaiser, Dion Berisha (flu) and Moussa Doumbouya, is whether the former professional will again play as defensively as against Cottbus, when the topic of security outshone everything else. Or will the Esseners act more boldly after the victory?

Dabrowski said at the pre-match press conference: “We’ve had a week of hard work, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday with the double sessions. We’ve worked through Cottbus and seen that there were little things that can be adjusted. Since Tuesday, the focus has been on Aue.”

The coach didn’t want to give too much away, but rather wanted to stress that, regardless of the tactics, it only works if the team performs as a unit. Dabrowski: “We showed a great reaction. You could see what happens when we play aggressively. We have to take this feeling with us and now perform consistently. Without the necessary passion, it won’t work.”

Important for RWE: Although Berisha is out with illness, the rest of the squad is fit to travel to Aue despite suffering from slight flu-like symptoms during the week. This also applies to keeper Jakob Golz, who had to sit out at the beginning of the week.

RWE’s line-up could be

Golz – Rios Alonso, Schultz, Kraulich – Voufack, Müsel, Arslan, Brumme – Safi, Vonic, Owusu

Injured: Celebi (muscular injury in the hip flexor), Doumbouya (inguinal surgery), Eitschberger (suspended for misconduct), Kaiser (torn medial collateral ligament), Berisha (flu)

On the verge of a ban: Arslan, Rios Alonso