Teams | April 28, 2018 at 10:19 PM

"We showed how much character this team has."

Marvin Plattenhardt, Niklas Stark, Karim Rekik, Per Skjelbred and Davie Selke give their reaction to Hertha’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg on Saturday.

Berlin – Hertha had the chance to record three straight wins for the first time all season on Saturday, but found themselves 2-0 down after 60 minutes. A spirited final 10 minutes saw those in Blue and White earn a point against Augsburg. Here’s what those on the pitch had to say at full.time.

Davie Selke: We were disappointing for 80 minutes, that cannot be ignored. We had played well in the last few games but we were unable to repeat for long periods today. We went behind to a very odd goal and then conceded another. That’s when we brought on the attacking players and they added fresh impetus into our game. Ondrej Duda, Vedad Ibisevic , who was delighted to get his first goal in a while, and Palko Dardai, who made his first Bundesliga appearance. He has deserved that for his hard work in recent weeks. I said to him two weeks ago that he should get his chance. The subs gave us wings and we turned the game again. We can be happy to take a point, because it looked for a long time that we wouldn’t take anything. It sounds cliché but we can build on those final ten minutes. We showed how much character this team has.

Per Skjelbred: It wasn’t a great showing from us. We started okay but thn went behind. The first goal heavily came off Vladimir Darida and it got worse when we were 2-0 down. We started creating chances after we made changes, and then the penalty came at the right time for us. We’ll take a point, but next week’s game against Hannover will be another tough one.

Marvin Plattenhardt: It wasn’t a very good first half. Conceding was annoying and we tried to complicate too many things in the first half. We didn’t have many openings and didn’t want to move forward with the ball. It then becomes tough to break a defensively good side like Augsburg down. We showed after the break that we are capable of better. We spoke about things and decided we had to get forward more. We changed the game by not having too much possession, and that made things hard for the opposition. We take a point, we wanted three but that just wasn’t to be today. Despite that we can still get six points from the final two games – and that’s exactly what we’ll be aiming for.

Niklas Stark: Everything with my nose is fine. I had the splint in to start with but it got it came loose after 15 minutes and I had to throw it away. But it did its job as well. We started well but didn’t get stuck in enough going forward. We had to come from deep and try and get the forwards away and that meant leaving gaps in the midfield. They linked up well on a couple of occasions and that means we are happy to take 2-2. Vedad changed the game with his energy and so did Palko, who looked to get away down the wings as much as possible. Davie might have won the penalty and scored the goal, but Vedad’s introduction was vital. We’ll see what’s still possible. We have always said the last two games would be about playing to win and then seeing where we were. I don’t think out thought process will change.

Karim Rekik: The first ten minutes were fine, but then we started to make mistakes and we got unsure of ourselves. We tried to get that confidence back. We weren’t great for long periods of the game but we showed a lot of team spirit and clawed back the deficit – as we have managed to do a few times this season.

Berlin – Hertha had the chance to record three straight wins for the first time all season on Saturday, but found themselves 2-0 down after 60 minutes. A spirited final 10 minutes saw those in Blue and White earn a point against Augsburg. Here’s what those on the pitch had to say at full.time.

Davie Selke: We were disappointing for 80 minutes, that cannot be ignored. We had played well in the last few games but we were unable to repeat for long periods today. We went behind to a very odd goal and then conceded another. That’s when we brought on the attacking players and they added fresh impetus into our game. Ondrej Duda, Vedad Ibisevic, who was delighted to get his first goal in a while, and Palko Dardai, who made his first Bundesliga appearance. He has deserved that for his hard work in recent weeks. I said to him two weeks ago that he should get his chance. The subs gave us wings and we turned the game again. We can be happy to take a point, because it looked for a long time that we wouldn’t take anything. It sounds cliché but we can build on those final ten minutes. We showed how much character this team has.

Per Skjelbred: It wasn’t a great showing from us. We started okay but thn went behind. The first goal heavily came off Vladimir Darida and it got worse when we were 2-0 down. We started creating chances after we made changes, and then the penalty came at the right time for us. We’ll take a point, but next week’s game against Hannover will be another tough one.

Marvin Plattenhardt: It wasn’t a very good first half. Conceding was annoying and we tried to complicate too many things in the first half. We didn’t have many openings and didn’t want to move forward with the ball. It then becomes tough to break a defensively good side like Augsburg down. We showed after the break that we are capable of better. We spoke about things and decided we had to get forward more. We changed the game by not having too much possession, and that made things hard for the opposition. We take a point, we wanted three but that just wasn’t to be today. Despite that we can still get six points from the final two games – and that’s exactly what we’ll be aiming for.

Niklas Stark: Everything with my nose is fine. I had the splint in to start with but it got it came loose after 15 minutes and I had to throw it away. But it did its job as well. We started well but didn’t get stuck in enough going forward. We had to come from deep and try and get the forwards away and that meant leaving gaps in the midfield. They linked up well on a couple of occasions and that means we are happy to take 2-2. Vedad changed the game with his energy and so did Palko, who looked to get away down the wings as much as possible. Davie might have won the penalty and scored the goal, but Vedad’s introduction was vital. We’ll see what’s still possible. We have always said the last two games would be about playing to win and then seeing where we were. I don’t think our thought process will change.

Karim Rekik: The first ten minutes were fine, but then we started to make mistakes and we got unsure of ourselves. We tried to get that confidence back. We weren’t great for long periods of the game but we showed a lot of team spirit and clawed back the deficit – as we have managed to do a few times this season.

by Hertha BSC