Thomas Schaaf gave his first press conference as Hannover 96 coach on Monday. - © © gettyimages / Stuart Franklin
Thomas Schaaf gave his first press conference as Hannover 96 coach on Monday. - © © gettyimages / Stuart Franklin

Schaaf: 'We have some tough games ahead of us'

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New Hannover 96 head coach Thomas Schaaf has warned there will be tough times ahead as the club seeks to avoid relegation this season.

Tricky fixture list

Speaking at his first press conference since he was formally announced as Michael Frontzeck's successor last week, the 54-year-old said he was looking forward to the task at hand: “I had a very positive impression from the word go. I'm excited about this new challenge.”

Nevertheless, with Hannover currently , the former SV Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt strategist is well aware of the difficulties involved in a relegation battle and indicated he would “shake the players awake” to gear them up for a hard slog.

“It's our aim to get ourselves out of this situation,” he said. "We must internalise the belief that we can do it. We have to give each other mutual support, and we'll need the fans too. Not everyone has been playing at their absolute best. We need to make some changes."

- © gettyimages / Stuart Franklin