Monaco happy to face Hamburg

Good form
The Principality club are on a good run of form, having not lost in Ligue 1 since 23 October, and are up to sixth in the standings. It is all a far cry from the 1-0 defeat against Viking FK that opened their Group A campaign, but coach Francesco Guidolin will know that Hamburg will be extremely tough opponents.

Injury woe
Guidolin has injury problems to contend with as well with striker Javier Chevantón having taken a knock to his knee following the 1-0 home win against AS Saint-Etienne while defender Maicon has just been ruled out for a month with a shin injury. Already sidelined are Sébastien Squillaci (thigh), Gerard López (achilles) and Flavio Roma (groin).

Attacking intent
The latter has been ably replaced by Guillaume Warmuz, who knows all about Hamburg having spent time in the Bundesliga with BV Borussia Dortmund. "Hamburg have improved consistently since Thomas Doll took charge," he said. "Their strength is to have several players like [Rafael] van der Vaart, [Benjamin] Lauth and [Sergej] Barbarez who can score at any time in a game."

Strong party
As well as their attacking potency, Hamburg have a highly regarded rearguard and Doll has been given extra resources with the surprising return of defenders Bastian Reinhardt and Guy Demel after ankle and thigh injuries respectively. Both players were in the 18-strong travelling party heading to Monaco.

Changes possible
Doll, who saw his team consolidate third place in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win against MSV Duisburg on Sunday, said: "We are very confident ahead of the match against Monaco and the fact that I have players back means that I can make a few changes if I want. We want to make sure that we are still involved in the UEFA Cup next year and therefore we want to get a good result on Thursday."