Dubai: Hamburg captain Rafael van der Vaart hopes a good result over Manchester City in Wednesday’s friendly in Al Ain will spur his side towards Bundesliga survival this season.
The Red Shorts are currently 14th in the 18-team Bundesliga on 17 points from 17 games, and are only above the relegation play-off spot on goal difference. But Van der Vaart believes the City game could provide the key to confidence when they kick off the second half of their season at home to Cologne on January 31.
“If we play well and win, we can take a lot of confidence back with us to Hamburg,” he said. “It will be a great game, and great for the players to see where we stand. I’ve a good feeling that we will play our best team and see a good game.”
Van der Vaart said his side’s first half of the season had been plagued with anomalies.
“We had some good games but we weren’t consistent enough,” the former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker said.
“We played fantastic one game and bad the next, we need a series of wins to get out of the bottom half of the table and get confidence. That’s what we need to do and I believe we’ve set the groundwork for that with our winter break in Dubai with great facilities and great friendlies.”
