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Galatasaray strong enough for Skibbe

Galatasaray AŞ coach Michael Skibbe has backed his current squad to succeed this season by signalling that they will not be making any January signings as they play their first 2009 fixture in the Turkish Cup tonight.

Michael Skibbe will not be making any January signings
Michael Skibbe will not be making any January signings ©Getty Images

Galatasaray AŞ coach Michael Skibbe has backed his current squad to succeed this season by signalling that they will not be making any January signings.

Promising position
Skibbe took over at the Turkish champions in the summer with the likes of Milan Baroš, Harry Kewell, and Fernando Meira also arriving. Although FC Steaua Bucureşti pipped Galatasaray to the UEFA Champions League group stage they have earned a UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie with FC Girondins de Bordeaux next month and four Süper Lig wins prior to the winter break lifted Skibbe's side to third, within a point of Sivasspor and Trabzonspor. And the German, previously in charge of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, believes Galatasaray can continue to progress when their league campaign resumes at leaders Sivasspor on 25 January.

Content
"I will not ask for any new players from the board during the January transfer period," Skibbe said. "As I have stated before, I am pleased with the current squad and will continue with them. Our performance in the first half of the season showed the squad will be more than adequate for the rest of the competition. However, young players who can't play regularly for our side can be allowed to leave on loan."

Refreshed
Injury has weakened Skibbe's squad at several key moments this season but the 43-year-old coach is looking forward to the return of Kewell and Emre Güngör. He has been putting his players through their paces in a winter camp in Antalya despite rain and hard pitches following their new-year break. "My players seem to have returned in a better physical condition after a tiring period," he said. "The ten-day break was very useful for them."

Cup tie
They return to competitive action tonight with a trip to Altay GK in Turkish Cup Group B in which victory would take Galatasaray to the top of the table and in a strong position to take one of the two quarter-final berths available from the pool. Thoughts will then begin to turn to Bordeaux, with Galatasaray keen to reverse the 2-1 defeat they suffered in France during last season's group stage before exiting to Skibbe's Leverkusen side in the Round of 32.

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