dpa
Dortmund, Germany
Borussia Dortmund hope to maintain their 100% record in 2023 with victory in a German Cup last 16 derby at Bochum on Wednesday.
Dortmund have won all four Bundesliga games since the January restart but face a tough task in Bochum who have won all five home games under new coach Thomas Lesch, including against top sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said that his players must give their all to prevail.
"It’s a knockout game. A game in which there will be no second chance. A Revier [Ruhr area] duel is something special - we want to take on the fight. I’m sure we can expect a very heated and passionate atmosphere,” Terzic said.
"Bochum will be strong and dominant at home. It’s going to be a fierce game, a lot of it will come down to the toughness of our tackling. If we stick to our routines from the last few games, there’s a good chance we’ll advance to the next round.” While boasting a high powered attack Dortmund’s defence has looked shaky at times but Terzic said they are trying to find the right balance and is upbeat that improvements will continue.
"We are not so good as we are being made now but we also weren’t as bad as we were made before,” he said.
"We continue to address the issues we’re working on and we need to keep calling things out clearly. The guys are giving us a good feeling right now because the quality in training is high. If we keep that up, the results will remain continuously good.” Terzic and Lesch both have an all but full squad to chose from, and Lesch said that sitting back in a home game "would be the wrong approach” because "we won’t stand a chance without courage and taking risks.”