Karlsruhe (dpa / lsw) – Coach Christian Eichner from the second division soccer club Karlsruher SC noticed increasing competitive pressure in his team during the international break. “The games in training aren’t as rich in goals anymore and are getting tighter overall,” said the 39-year-old two days before the game on Sunday (1.30 p.m. / Sky) against 1. FC Nürnberg. The returned central defenders Florian Ballas and Christoph Kobald also did their jobs very well in the test games that were played. The two still have a hard time, because Marcel Franke and Stephan Ambrosius “simply did a good job” as regular players, said Eichner.

For the game against the “Club”, the coach of the table tenth has not yet decided whether he would like to give the eleven (1:2) who were last unsuccessful in Braunschweig another chance to correct. After all, the team, which hasn’t won in three competitive games, has to be allowed a bad game once in a while, said Eichner. 1. FC Nürnberg is a team “that wants to play with us,” he said. The coach expects a duel that could “develop in both directions” again.