Hleb and Pogrebnyak to make home debuts
Alexander Hleb and Pavel Pogrebnyak are set to make their home debuts for Stuttgart on Saturday at a much-changed Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Work is well under way to remove the stadium's athletics track, bring the fans closer to the field and increase capacity in the process.
The pitch has been lowered already by over a metre while one of the stands behind the goals has been demolished.
While construction work takes place, the capacity has been reduced from 57,000 to little over 41,000, but director of sport Horst Heldt still expects "bombastic support" in the Baden-Wurttemberg derby against Freiburg.
"For the players, it is important to train in the stadium in advance since it really is different to play towards an empty end," he told the club's website.
"I am looking forward to Friday and am certain that the fans will give us bombastic support, despite the renovation work."
Work on rebuilding the squad should be over following the arrivals of Hleb and Pogrebnyak, although coach Markus Babbel has said he will be "keeping an eye out" for any last-minute bargains.
But his squad is in place for Saturday and should not undergo any alteration from the side which started the season with a 2-0 win at Wolfsburg last Friday.
Freiburg coach Robin Dutt can also name an unchanged side from the one which took a point off Hamburg last weekend, and he expects nothing less in Saturday's derby.
"We should go into this game with the aim of winning it, although it will be tough," he told Radio Regenbogen.
"It would be fantastic to pick up three points in Stuttgart. We will go into the game to win it without being disappointed if we only manage a draw."
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