On Saturday (2 p.m., RevierSport live ticker), there will be a real banger at Preußen Münster’s stadium: Wuppertaler SV will challenge the league leaders.

Münster versus Wuppertal: This pairing draws the fan masses in the Regionalliga West. The Prussians have already sold around 5,000 tickets. It is heading for a record crowd for the season. The best attendance at Hammer Straße in 2022/2023 is 8099. That’s how many spectators came against 1. FC Bocholt.

“If the weather plays along to some extent, it will certainly be full and loud. We are all looking forward to that. You don’t get that many games in this league in front of full crowds. We are definitely fired up,” Wuppertal’s Kevin Rodrigues Pires told RevierSport.

The 31-year-old is the WSV’s key man in the centre. Rodrigues Pires occupies a deep six position and has the whole game in front of him. This is where his passing strengths come into their own. Two goals and two assists, that is his personal record this season. “People know me as more attacking and more capable of scoring goals. But now I just play a bit more defensively. It’s not going badly, but it can always go better,” he says.

Things didn’t go well for the red-and-blue team at the beginning of the season, but now they are going like clockwork. Four games, four wins: that’s the balance of the last four matches. “We are in a good mood and want to achieve something in Münster as well,” he emphasises.

I never talked about it. It’s also pointless to knock something out. We prefer to look from game to game. Nobody knows what will happen in two, three weeks or months. All that counts now is the game at Preußen Münster!

Kevin Rodrigues Pires on the WSV’s goal for the season: promotion

The Portuguese-born Kevin Rodrigues Pires has no idea that this is some kind of final for the WSV. Even though Prussia are currently seven points ahead of Wuppertal and still have a game in hand over WSV. Rodrigues Pires: “That’s nonsense! There are still so many games to play and so much can happen. Essen were seven or eight points away last season and were only promoted because of the better goal difference. A season like this is a marathon and that’s not just an empty phrase – it’s a fact!”

The Bergisch are currently performing well and also have the necessary match luck on their side. After the change of coach from Björn Mehnert to Hüzeyfe Dogan, a lot has changed, as Rodrigues Pires reveals: “We have all asked ourselves what we can do better. It can’t always be the coach’s fault. But of course, every coach has his own philosophy and is different as a person. Mehnert was the emotional type, Dogan is the calm, objective representative. That’s also good for us at the moment.”

And the season’s goal of promotion is still relevant? Rodrigues Pires answers: “I never talked about it. It’s also pointless to hammer something out. We prefer to look from game to game. Nobody knows what will happen in two or three weeks or months. All that counts now is the game at Preußen Münster!”