Keller wary of Hannover´s counter-attacks

Schalke head coach Jens Keller expects his team to control Sunday’s clash against Hannover but warned mistakes could be costly.

Keller’s men have jumped up to fourth in the Bundesliga after consecutive league wins to start the year.

Ahead of Schalke’s game against Hannover on Sunday, Keller warned his players that the 10th-placed team would be hard to break down and will look to play on the counter-attack.

“Hannover are very compact, they use two rows of four players in each,” he said.

“If you consider the last two games, I think they had roughly 38 per cent ball possession. They are waiting for the other team to make mistakes and hit on the counter-attack.

“They have pacey attacking players, such as Artjoms Rudnevs and Mame Diouf, so we need to be aware of them. We need to avoid leaving space for them to counter.”

Keller and his team have spoken about their form as their four-game unbeaten run in the league has lifted them into the last UEFA Champions League place.

But he said there was still a long way to go and Schalke needed to keep their concentration to achieve their goals.

“We already spoke about the form we are in but, at the end of the day, we just won two back-to-back games, we did the same in the first half of the season as well,” Keller said.

“I mentioned it previously as well, the guys have been sticking together and keeping their confidence levels high.

“We have worked hard on that and now we want to earn the rewards from it.

“However, we will have to continue working hard and maintain our concentration throughout – that’s the way we can be successful in the remainder of the season.”