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Meyer gears up for Stuttgart test

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Coach Hans Meyer says "last season's results will count for nothing" as 2007 German Cup finalists 1. FC Nürnberg and VfB Stuttgart meet again this weekend.

Hans Meyer's Nürnberg have made a poor start to the season
Hans Meyer's Nürnberg have made a poor start to the season ©Getty Images

Coach Hans Meyer says "last season's results will count for nothing" as 2007 German Cup finalists 1. FC Nürnberg and VfB Stuttgart meet again this weekend.

No consolation
Nürnberg had a great record against the German champions last term, beating them twice in the Bundesliga and then prevailing 3-2 after extra time in the German Cup final to claim the trophy for the first time in 45 years. However, with neither side impressing this season, Meyer can find no indicators as to Saturday's outcome at the Frankenstadion. "Last season's results will count for nothing," he said.

Familiar problems
UEFA Cup group stage contenders Nürnberg sit fourth from bottom in the 18-team Bundesliga, with a single goal keeping them out of the relegation zone. They were knocked out of the German Cup by FC Carl Zeiss Jena – second from bottom in the 2. Bundesliga – on Wednesday and are digging in for a difficult few months. "We have the same problems that have been troubling us all season, and they will go on until Christmas," Meyer said.

Injury list
"With [defender] Horacio Pínola and [forward] Róbert Vittek injured, we are missing two key players from last term, and their replacements Lars Jacobsen and Ralf Schmidt have both been injured. Then we have had other injuries to the likes of Peer Kluge, Ivan Saenko and Jawhar Mnari. Nürnberg are not the sort of club that can cope with these absences."

Stuttgart recovery
Stuttgart cannot muster such excuses for their stuttering campaign to date, but at least they are on the up: their midweek cup success against SC Paderborn 07 followed a 1-0 Bundesliga defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen which amounted to a winning run for the 12th-placed club. Now they want a first away victory of 2007/08. "VfB will have been boosted by their two wins ... no such luck for us," complained Meyer.

Schäfer returns
The match sees Stuttgart goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer return to the Frankenstadion for the first time since leaving Nürnberg last summer, and visiting coach Armin Veh hopes the title-holders can begin a climb up the Bundesliga table. "We have to keep playing the way we have been in our last two games and keep on improving," he said.

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