Draxler talks up Schalke´s derby chances

5 March 2013 17:36

Schalke forward Julian Draxler says his side have plenty to prove ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga clash with rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Since fellow German international Lewis Holtby's moved to Tottenham Hotspur in January, 19-year-old Draxler has come into his own with some fine performances in the league.

Scoring two goals in last weekend's 4-1 win at Wolfsburg, the teenager is beginning to play a pivotal role in Schalke's attacking line-up.

The Gelsenkirchen outfit are in sixth place on the table, nine points off the automatic UEFA Champions League qualification spots.

"After last week's result it was obvious that we were relieved after this great result," he said.

"The manager kindly gave us two days off and that cleared our minds.

"It's obviously a very important result. We gained a lot of self-confidence after the Wolfsburg match, in the table everything is all right and now we want to use our momentum for the game against Dortmund.

"We are excited about the derby, we wanted to get on a better track against Wolfsburg, but now all my family talks about is the game against Dortmund.

"We are very motivated, we know it won't be an easy game, but we have to transfer the positive feeling and then I am convinced that we will put in a good performance.

"Before the game you can predict anything. Dortmund has a lot of quality so there won't be a 5-0 or a similar result. As I told before, we are competitive right now and we've overcome our loss of form. But we need to prove it."