After what has been a "completely normal week of training", Lucien Favre is looking ahead to the home game against Sportclub Freiburg on Saturday (15:30 CET) with a mixture of confidence and respect. The coach is expecting an intense 90 minutes – and hoping that BVB will have their sixth win in seven league games in 2020 by the end.

"We absolutely want to win the match," the Swiss tactician declared. "But we know that Freiburg can be dangerous. Freiburg have quality, play dangerous crosses and have a lot of players who are capable of scoring goals." His charges drew the reverse fixture 2-2 after being pegged back in the last minute. But this time Borussia Dortmund will have home advantage and the support of exactly 76,565 BVB fans (Freiburg are bringing 4,800 supporters). BVB's home record this season makes for impressive reading: there have been 14 wins and three draws. However, Favre was quick to point out that no home game has been easy – even if the outcome sometimes appeared clear-cut.

The coach is still without Thomas Delaney and Marco Reus. "It'll take time," said the coach in reference to the captain's injury. "It's important for us to get him back – but not if he's only playing at 70 or 80 percent. He needs to be top-fit so he doesn't suffer another injury. That's the most important thing. We need to allow for this time."

Having made a brief comeback a week ago in Bremen, Julian Brandt is available for selection again. Favre explained that the midfielder could even play the full 90 minutes, but remained coy when asked if he would start ("We'll see").

However, it is also conceivable that he could name the same starting XI for the fourth successive game. "Will we keep playing with the same team?" While Favre did not answer his own question, he did reveal that rotation could be an option the following week with matches in Mönchengladbach, Paris and "against Schalke two and a half days later". "These are considerations," he said. "But I cannot answer the question today."

Boris Rupert

BVB TV: The full press conference with Lucien Favre