Anyone who casts a glance at the league table will see that Borussia Dortmund's U23 side are still in with a chance of beating the drop. The youngsters need two more points than 1. FSV Mainz 05 II from the last two matchdays to leapfrog their relegation rivals and stay up at their expense.

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While BVB host tenth-placed Dynamo Dresden on Saturday (kick-off 13:30 CET) before travelling to sixth-placed Preußen Münster on 23 May for the season finale, Mainz must face seventh-placed Halle and fifth-placed Chemnitz. "I think we did the right thing to stop looking at the table a few weeks ago and to just concentrate on the next match at hand. All the statistics were against us anyway," said David Wagner, whose team have launched a comeback by taking ten points from their last five games.

"We agreed just to focus on the opponent we had to face next," explained the coach. "Everyone saw that we were able to beat Stuttgart, defeat Cottbus and that we could have also claimed all three points in Rostock too. We put in a very good performance in that match and were unlucky to take nothing from the game."

Though Dynamo Dresden have nothing left to play for in the current campaign, Wagner is expecting a tough task for his charges: "There'll be lots of travelling fans to support them and so they'll want to put in a good performance. We'll be playing a home game that resembles an away game. None of the Dresden players will want to take their foot off the gas, even if they just have their personal prospects for next season in mind. We'll have to give everything if we want to win this game."

In a season full of highs and lows - the U23s started by taking seven points from four games before putting a slight slump behind them to go on a run that saw them beaten just once between matchdays 17 and 26 - the youngsters' recent form bodes well, with the 1-0 win over Unterhaching a month ago today seemingly the catalyst for their recovery.

More players, a higher level - better pitches, better football

According to Wagner, the much-improved personnel situation "both for the first team and for us" is an important reason behind the revival. With the exception of two long-term injuries, everyone is fit. "Everyone is fit again at exactly the right time of the season. This means that there is more competition for places and training sessions are at a higher level," observed the coach.

"We have finally had eleven men on the pitch until the final whistle in our last few matches," continued Wagner in reference to the numerous red cards his charges had picked up in the previous weeks, before adding: "And the pitches in spring are better too. We can play football again rather than playing a more direct game. We had to forego a lot of our quality between November and March."

The forecast for Saturday: sunny, 16 degrees, a good pitch and an opponent with no intention of sitting back.

Boris Rupert