FC Schalke 04 – S04 coach Thomas Reis: “The training today was underground”

Schalke 04 coach Thomas Reis expects a difficult away game at FC Augsburg. “It’s going to be a game between two disgusting teams,” said the 49-year-old before the next important game in the fight for relegation on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). “We know what’s coming, but we’re just as gross, we’ve shown that in the past few weeks.”

Again this weekend, Reis will be on the sidelines wearing his white lucky charm hoodie with a large Schalke emblem on the back.

“I’m such a hoodie guy,” said Reis, who wore the piece of fabric for the first time in the 2-1 win over VfB Stuttgart: “I’m not normally that superstitious, but I’ll keep wearing it as long as we score. Also very much in warmer weather.” In Gelsenkirchen, the hoodie has long been a bestseller and a symbol of the success of the past few weeks, and was recently even sold out in the Royal Blues’ online shop.

After the 2-2 win in the Revierderby against Borussia Dortmund, Schalke “of course celebrated a bit. But we assessed it realistically and want to take the next step,” said Reis, who complained about a lack of concentration in training: “The training today was underground. So we don’t have to go to Augsburg. This unit was important again so that we weren’t satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far. It just wasn’t all we had to achieve.”

Soichiro Kozuki, meanwhile, will be out for a longer time after his ankle surgery. “He survived the surgery well, but this season a return will be tight,” said Reis, who will also have to do without Marcin Kaminski (lumbago) and Thomas Ouwejan, who is not quite fit after injury, against FCA.