“A special game”

Kevin Trapp on...

…the start of the Bundesliga season: “I feel a great sense of anticipation, it’s a very exciting start to the season. The stadium is even bigger, so more fans will be there now – and we’ve got a Hesse derby to kick things off. It’s a special game.”

…the current squad: “The team has grown stronger, we’ve got more depth now. In the last few games it didn’t matter who started or who came off the bench, there was no difference. That’s important and will do us good. We’ve now got the opportunity to bring on more power and have an impact that way.”

...the atmosphere in the team: “We set the bar high over the last few years, so our expectations have increased too. That’s a positive. Within the team there’s a crazy atmosphere, in a positive way, and that can help us. The club places a lot of emphasis on making sure that everyone fits together in terms of character.”

…objectives: “Our last two seasons were very successful ones. It’s hard to top that. We just want to improve as individuals and as a team. That has to be everyone’s aim. We need to keep inconsistency to a minimum. It’s important to get off to a good start. We’ve got this home game against Darmstadt and then another exciting match against Mainz – and in between those the Europa Conference League play-offs. So we’ve got one game after another.”

…his personal aims: “I want to achieve the maximum. That’s what I train and play football for. We’re playing our Bundesliga opener at home, we’ll have the fans behind us and we can’t make the mistake of underestimating Darmstadt.”