Five days after the defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf, Union Berlin are back in action against credible promotion rivals.

Eintracht Braunschweig head to Köpenick on Friday 15 September (18:30) looking to make a stronger push for the Bundesliga than last season’s playoff loss to VfL Wolfsburg.

“We have directly addressed the things that clearly went wrong,” explained Union head coach Jens Keller at the pre-match press conference. “We have no doubt that we have the quality of football, but if we aren’t prepared to go full-throttle from the first whistle then it’s always going to be difficult. If we can rely on our quality, then we can beat anyone.”

Keller’s side went down 3-2 at the ESPRIT Arena last weekend, the winning goal coming from a handful of mistakes in the final minutes. After a record season in 2.Bundesliga last term, Keller was expecting an improved mentality within the squad for this season’s ambitions.

“I thought that we’d be a little further ahead mentally than last season. Especially since these were important games, while not K.O. matches, where the pressure is enormously high. Of course, you want to win every game and get the best out of it, but we can’t think that far ahead just now. Games aren’t decided in the mind, but in the heart. When things are easy for you to do without thinking, then you are good at what you do. We hope that the team will learn from past games and situations and implement what they have learned in the long term."

Things aren’t running too smoothly in Braunschweig, but Torsten Lieberknecht’s side have remained hard to beat. Eintracht beat Heidenheim early in the season – their only three points so far with the other matches ending in draws. “We would have all liked a home win. We haven’t lost a game yet, but have drawn too many games. Not it’s time to get three in Berlin,” the Eintracht coach said after last week’s draw at home to Sandhausen.

Kenny Redondo and Marc Torrejon are still the main absentees for Union Berlin, with Steven Skrzybski and Grischa Prömel shaking off niggles to be available. “We don’t need to develop a great deal further, but rather continue to bring what we’ve shown on the pitch,” added Keller.

Tickets are still available for visiting Braunschweig supporters, but can only be collected at the box office behind the away block.