The first competitive match of 2017 will see 1. FC Köln travel to the Opel Arena to take on 1. FSV Mainz 05. Peter Stöger wants his team to pick up where they left off in 2016.

FC Head Coach Peter Stöger spoke at Friday’s press conference about…

…the winter break: “We knew that the preparation phase was shorter this year, but we used the time to identify some key factors. We trained harder than we usually do. My impression is that the team is in good spirits and ready to get things started again.”

…the return of injured players: “There was a question going into the break whether our injured players would return to begin 2017. Dominic Maroh, ‘Matze’ Lehmann, and Leo Bittencourt all made it back to team training, as we expected. Each one of them is capable of playing. I am happy to work with a bigger group again.”

…the current position: “We have a good point total. At the same time we cannot feel too safe because we want to protect our position. There is some pressure that we have to play as well as we did in the first half of the season. It definitely will not become easier going forward. We know what we want: to get better each day.”

…the suspension of John Cordoba and the departure of Yunus Malli: “I think Cordoba is a very good striker. His absence will surely be felt. Nobody will argue against Yunus Malli being a great footballer. Mainz is without two of their top performers from the Hinrunde, but we still need to do our jobs correctly. Mainz still has plenty of players that were playing in the Europa League just a few weeks ago.”

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