The Wolves picked up their first home win of the season at the fourth attempt last weekend against VfB Stuttgart. Crucial to that success was a much-missed midfield dynamo, who played 90 minutes for the first time since recovering from injury. In a brief interview, Yannick Gerhardt assesses the late home victory, talks about the important progress he’s made and looks ahead to the next match.
Yannick Gerhardt, the first home win is finally in the bag. Why did it take so long?
Yannick Gerhardt: “I’d say it’s because we didn’t manage to produce what we’d worked on in training over 90 minutes. We certainly looked good in spells, but never over the full distance. Admittedly that wasn’t the case at the weekend either, but I certainly think our performance was a step in the right direction.”
The Stuttgart match, like so many others this season, could’ve turned out differently. What was the key to getting the three points this time?
Yannick: “We created more chances for ourselves and got into a lot of promising positions. Defensively we’re still too vulnerable as a team, but when you create more chances that inevitably leads to more goals eventually. That was the key in this case.”
What does this hard-earned win mean for the next assignment at Augsburg?
Yannick: “You saw that we have the physicality and mentality to win a game in the last minute. We’re a very young team, so this was a very important experience for our confidence.”
Augsburg now have the chance to make it three straight wins. How are you preparing for the clash on Saturday?
Yannick: “It will be a physical game. Augsburg are doing very well, they play very man-to-man and give everything to win the one-v-one duels. Nevertheless we have the chance to get three points here.”
You played the full match for the first time this season against Stuttgart. Is your knee injury in pre-season completely behind you now?
Yannick: “Yes, you could say that. This match in particular showed me that I’ve got the required fitness level again. That felt very good. I have full confidence in my body again.”
On top of that, you scored the winning goal. Do you know when a late goal of yours resulted in a 3-2 win?
Yannick: “(smiles) I do know that, in fact: in an away match at Augsburg four years ago. If you offered me that again, then of course I’d bite your hand off.”
