Schnoor: "We’ll finish fourth"

Wolves fans will have to be patient for another four days, before the Bundesliga gets underway again with the round 18 home game against crisis-club Borussia Dortmund (kick off 3.30 pm). Wolves fans will not however…have to wait for the latest exclusive interview with this website by the club skipper Stefan Schnoor! This time the popular defender talks of the recent friendly match against the Dutch first division side Groningen, the training camp stay in Spain and he tells us where he thinks the Wolves will end up at the end of the season.

vfl-wolfsburg.de: Hello Stefan! The Wolves beat Groningen after two draws during the winter break. Will that result give the team confidence for the impending home game against Dortmund? Or was the win against Groningen just another friendly?

Stefan Schnoor: Of course, it’s nice to start the second half of the season with a win under your belt. We mustn’t however, overestimate that win.

When you assess the win over Groningen, do you think that the match took the side another step in the right direction? Or was Groningen compared to Basel and HSV just too weak a side beyond comparison with the other two teams?

Stefan Schnoor: Groningen was too weak for us to be able say where we really stand at the moment. On the other hand, we could of course say that we were too good for them. But to be able to say something like that, we should have won 5 or 6 nil. We have to improve our finishing.

Nine days at the training camp in La Manga followed by a week of hard work in Wolfsburg, not a very long winter break. Will that preparation time be enough for the tough second half of the Bundesliga Season?

Stefan Schnoor: The winter break was a little short, but we have worked hard in order to be ready for the Bundesliga re-start.

Last season the Wolves had trouble leaving the starting blocks so to speak. In the second home game of the season Saturday’s opponents Dortmund beat the Wolves 4-2 in the VOLKSWAGENARENA, does a result like that one stay on the minds of the players? Or has the team the mental strength so that not even a defeat on Saturday would be the end of the world for them?

Stefan Schnoor: We have proved that we are mentally tough. We don’t think that we will lose on Saturday; we have a point to prove against them and plan to take maximum points from the match.

The Wolves won their first game of what has been a successful season so far away to Dortmund. Did you think at the time that the Wolves would put together such a string of good results?

Stefan Schnoor: After a good start like that, it is always possible to put together a good run. We lost the next game at home top Freiburg, so it wasn’t much of a run. If we had won that match we would have been within one point of the Bundesliga leaders Bayern, which is annoying.

In your first interview with us at the start of the season, you predicted the win in Dortmund. How do you see Saturday’s match going? And where will the Wolves finish the season in your opinion?

Stefan Schnoor: I never Tipp our games, but we will win on Saturday and finish fourth in the table at the end of the season.

All Wolves fans have their fingers crossed on that one! Thanks skipper and good luck!