'We need to rediscover our passion and heart'

"We're in a good position: We're fifth in the league and in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. I think there are a lot of teams in Germany who'd be happy to swap places with us," said the Bayer 04 coach in the knowledge that he and his players want to earn their reward for all their efforts over the past months. "Of course, we're aiming to pick up as many points as possible. I hope it will be enough to qualify for the Champions League at the end of the day. We're capable of achieving that aim. But other teams at the top are in the same position," said the 46-year-old. The objective is clear for tomorrow's game.

Herrlich expects hard-fought encounter

A look at the table reveals: A five-point gap to Schalke in second place, and a nine-point lead over tenth-placed Augsburg. For Herrlich, that is no reason to underestimate Manuel Baum's team. He pointed out that Augsburg competed in the Europa League two years ago. "They are a very ambitious team and are in the running to qualify for Europe again. They're definitely in with a good chance," said Herrlich. For that reason, he sees himself facing a tricky challenge. "I read an interview with Daniel Baier that said Augsburg are coming to pick up three points," declared Herrlich. The FC Augsburg captain also said FC Köln had shown how to beat Leverkusen – by adopting a physical approach. "I didn't expect anything else. Augsburg regularly show in their home games that they can be very aggressive," said the Bayer 04 coach before adding: "But I don't want to  say Augsburg just play with grit and aggression as they very often produce results by playing good football. So we need to play to our full potential and do all we can to get a result."

Pohjanpalo sidelined, captain back on board

The Werkself are particularly keen to improve on the performance in the 2-0 derby defeat in Cologne. "After the international break, we discussed the Köln game again with the whole squad yesterday. The outcome was clearly that we don't want another performance like that. But now we're looking ahead and we want to show we can put on a different display against Augsburg," declared Herrlich before adding: "Against Köln there were a number of situations where we didn't put in a challenge and we really lacked passion and heart. The players see it like that too. We need to rediscover our passion and heart against Augsburg. We want to take all three points."

Herrlich will have to manage without the suspended Lucas Alario and Joel Pohjanpalo. The 23-year-old suffered an ankle injury last Friday in Finland's 0-0 draw with Macedonia and is ruled out as an option up front. In contrast, the Bayer 04 coach will probably be able to call on the services of his skipper Lars Bender. Herrlich: "Lars completed almost the whole of full training yesterday and the day before.  He's recovered from his groin problems and he's doesn't have any pain. However, we'll have to see if we can play him tomorrow."

Tickets are still available for the Augsburg game. Bayer 04 are expecting a crowd of 25,000.