Borussia Monchengladbach defender Martin Stranzl says all is not yet lost, despite suffering a setback in their battle against relegation last night. Die Fohlen lost 1-0 at home to Kaiserslautern to remain glued to the bottom of the Bundesliga with just seven matches remaining.
They could yet slip to to six points from safety this weekend, but Stranzl is maintaining his optimism. "We must keep our heads up and keep working hard," he said on his club's website. Everything is still open mathematically."
Nevertheless, the result is another psychological blow for a side who have spent much of the season inside the bottom three. "Of course the disappointment is huge," added the Austria international.
We had high hopes for the game, but we often lacked the final pass or the finish.
Borussia Monchengladbach defender Martin Stranzl on their defeat to Kaiserslautern
"We had high hopes for the game. We wanted to build up the pressure on our opponents, but we often lacked the final pass or the finish. Of course the fans are now disappointed. They wanted to push us to victory and we have just got to accept that they let out their frustration at the end."
Gladbach coach Lucien Favre refused to blame goalkeeper Logan Bailly, whose blunder cost his side all three points."We should not forget what he has done for us in the past," said the Swiss coach. "He just made one mistake today, but he has made some excellent saves up to now."
Kaiserslautern's win lifts them up to 12th in the table and they will now certainly end the weekend above the bottom three. "We played better in the second half and deserved this important win," said their coach Marco Kurz.