FC St. Pauli

The Boys in Brown signed off into the winter break on Saturday following a fine run of seven games without a defeat. Saturday's 4-1 win over Magdeburg was their third in succession and one which kept them within touching distance of the automatic promotion places. Yet it was no stroll in the park against the excellent visitors, who pushed them right to the limit. "The quality to turn a game round like that is something we've worked hard to develop," said Kauczinski in praise of his side.

In his summary at the post-match press conference, Kauczinski emphasised that his team had won the game via their battling attributes, a point he was keen to reiterate later. "We don't know if it will continue like this or whether we'll be able to tap into this emotion and passion consistently," he said. "It's so tight in this league, as we saw against Magdeburg, so we'd be well advised simply to enjoy the moment."

Although the winter break cuts through his side's successful run, Kauczinski is glad the ball will be out of action for a few weeks, given the fact that the club's casualty list has grown even longer with the addition of Henk Veerman and Luca Zander. "We're down to the bare bones and so we're happy to be in the break," he said. "At the moment, though, we're assuming everyone will be back on the training ground when we resume on 6 January. Henk is the only one where we need to await the examination."

With this in mind, the St. Pauli boss is very relaxed when it comes to the soon-to-open transfer window. "We always keep an eye open for possible acquisitions, of course. You never know what will happen and you always need a plan B," said Kauczinski. "But up to now we've drawn our strength from the togetherness in the squad, which means that each player has the sense of being needed. We aren't about to jeopardise that for a new player."

Photo: Witters