The excitement is rising. "I'm a football lover," said Peter Bosz the day before the Black & Yellows take on the Royal Blues. "This is my first Ruhr derby. Even when I was still a player and a coach in the Netherlands, people would talk about this Ruhr derby. So it must be something special."

The big match will kick off at 15:30 CET on Saturday in an unsurprisingly sold-out Signal Iduna Park. Bosz has done everything in his power to prepare his team as well as possible for the game. "I've spoken with and coached the players – but ultimately the most important thing is that you win games. That allows the players to build up the confidence they need. We showed at the start of the season that if we're well organised, we're capable of playing good football and fighting."

At the press conference, the coach spoke at length about how and how often his charges train – and dismissed the idea it could be behind their current slump. "I think that's too simplistic. At the start of the season we weren't physically as good as we are now, but we kept going for 90 minutes and often scored at the end of matches. Even then we showed that our condition was good." He believes that setbacks in the form of goals conceded offer a better explanation. "Then the team is disappointed. But they need to keep their heads up and keep going!"

The Dutchman continued: "I'm just focusing on the game. We'll need to fight to the last. I'm sure that given our qualities, we will win the derby if we give it everything we've got." (br)

BVB total! video: Watch the full pre-derby press conference with Peter Bosz