Dimitrios Grammozis: Working on options to become more dangerous

“Both clubs have a lot of tradition and a great fan following,” said head coach Dimitrios Grammozis ahead of the game. “I’m looking forward to having our fans with us for the match,” said the coach. A total of 49,000 fans will be allowed to attend Friday’s game under the 2G ruling, which requires attendees to provide proof of recovery or vaccination.

Grammozis recognises the upcoming opposition as a side with a lot of quality. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in and around the top end come the end of the season. They have created chances but haven’t always used them,” said the 43-year-old, who is certain that a lot will be demanded  from his team on Friday. “However, we’re confident in ourselves to say that we’ll go over there and do our thing.”

Ouwejan hoping for dangerous set pieces

The focus will be on Simon Terodde once again, who can break the second division goalscoring record by finding the net in Hannover. “Simon continues to be very focused, but has the right level of calmness ahead of a game like this,” said Grammozis, adding that he is sure that his striker will get his chances.

One player who has been responsible for a certain number of these is Thomas Ouwejan. The left back has provided four assists in nine games so far. “It’s a good return,” said the 25-year-old. “But I’m still not pleased with it. I want to create more goals in the upcoming games. Ouwejan would also like to get among the goals himself – ideally from set pieces. “So far, we haven’t had many free kicks that we can score directly from. I’m waiting for a chance like that in every game. When it comes, hopefully I can score,” said the Dutchman, who has already demonstrated the danger he possesses with his left foot this season.

More presence in the opposition area

Ouwejan was rested for the 2-0 friendly victory over Lübeck last week. The full back underlined the benefit of a week without a competitive game, coming off the back of a lot of matches recently. “Of course you keep working hard, but you also have to take breaks to make sure that your body is fit and ready for the upcoming games,” said Ouwejan. Grammozis explained how the international break was used to reintegrate Danny Latza, Salif Sané and Blendi Idrizi into team training. The trio took part in technical drills that did not involve any physical duels and came through without pain, said the head coach. “We had some good movements in our play and see the right spaces, but sometimes the transition into the dangerous areas is lacking,” said Grammozis. “One of our approaches this week has been on getting the boys to work on options to be more dangerous when they’re about 30 or 40 metres out from goal. We also want to get players in the right positions to allow Dominick Drexler, Rodrigo Zalazar or Memo Aydin to have more presence in the penalty area.”