“The lads have to believe”

Stress and nerves until the final whistle. Hertha’s safety was all but secured until the 84th minute of their game against Borussia Dortmund, but a late BVB winner and an injury-time winner from VfB Stuttgart in their game means that the Blue-Whites will be in the relegation playoff this season. The disappointment was palpable in Dortmund: “The lads are all really down, fed up, but one thing is clear: we still have two games to go, and we have to do our job in those two games,” said Fredi Bobic, making clear what the next week will all be about: “The lads have to believe that they can do it. It’s our job now to build them back up again and help them over the line.” herthabsc.com has  has all the reaction from Signal Iduna Park.

Fredi Bobic: We defended passionately, and the opening goal gave us something to defend. The lads did that fantastically, but then the penalty came out of nowhere and they equalised. That gave Dortmund impetus, which is tough to take. The lads are all really down, fed up, but one thing is clear: we still have two games to go, and we have to do our job in those two games. The lads have to believe that they can do it. It’s our job now to build them back up again and help them over the line. They’ll need to work with passion once again and then deal with their opponents, no matter who that may be.

Stevan Jovetić: It’s really, really hard at the moment. We did a good job, but just got unlucky at the end. But it is what it is – we can’t stay down in the dumps; we need to get our heads back up. The key now will be leaving our emotions at the door and coming through the playoff.